Cancer Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

This phase III ALCHEMIST trial tests the addition of pembrolizumab to usual chemotherapy for the treatment of stage IIA, IIB, IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer that has been removed by surgery. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, pemetrexed, carboplatin, gemcitabine hydrochloride, and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving pembrolizumab with usual chemotherapy may help increase survival times in patients with stage IIA, IIB, IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

Background: People with colorectal cancer (CRC) or gastroesophageal cancer (GEC) must often have major surgery to remove tumors from the esophagus, stomach, colon, or rectum. These surgeries can have adverse effects on their quality of life. Researchers want to know if one or two approved drugs (nivolumab with or without ipilimumab) can help people with CRC or GEC delay or avoid surgery. Objective: To test 1 or 2 drugs in people with CRC or GEC. Eligibility: People aged 18 years and older with CRC or GEC. People with GEC must also have changes in a particular gene. Design: Participants will visit the clinic about 15 times over the first 2 years. Each visit will last 4 to 8 hours. Participants will be screened. They will have a physical exam with blood and urine tests. They will have imaging scans. Small samples of tissue will be collected from their upper or lower digestive tract where the tumor is located. Both ipilimumab and nivolumab are administered through a tube attached to a needle inserted into a vein in the arm. Some participants will receive both drugs. Some will receive only nivolumab. Treatment will be given once every 3 weeks for up to 8 cycles up to (24 weeks). Participants will be evaluated every 6 weeks. Those who are responding well will continue with the drug treatments. If their disease progresses, they will go to surgery. After treatment ends, participants will have follow-up visits every 6 months for up to 5 years.... Read Less

Background: Cancer has a major impact in the United States and across the world. In 2015, over 1.5 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. Researchers want to study samples from people with cancer or a pre-malignant condition. They hope to develop more effective treatments. Objective: To better understand the biology of malignancies and why certain cancers respond differently to treatment. Eligibility: Adults at least 18 years old with cancer or a pre-cancerous condition. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, and blood tests. Their diagnosis will be confirmed by the NCI Laboratory of Pathology. Participants will send tissue blocks or slides from their original tumor biopsy. At least once, participants will have a medical history, physical exam, and blood and urine tests. Participants may have the following tests. They may have them more than once: Apheresis. A needle in one arm removes blood. Blood is run through a machine and the sample cells are taken out. The rest of the blood is returned by a needle in the other arm. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. The hipbone will be numbed. A needle will be put into the hipbone. Bone marrow will be taken out through the needle. Piece of cancer tissue taken by a needle and syringe. Computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or positron emission tomography (PET) scan or ultrasound to help locate their tumor. For the scans, they lie in a machine that takes pictures. A small piece of skin removed. Participants will be contacted by phone once a year to find out how they are doing. Read Less

Background: Medical advances have improved survival rates for many cancers and other illnesses. This means that more people are coping with the long-term effects of these treatments. Some treatments can cause female infertility. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) may help. Before undergoing a treatment that may damage their fertility, patients may opt to freeze a sample of ovarian tissue. The tissue contains immature egg cells. When thawed, the tissue can be reimplanted. This procedure can help women become pregnant. Objective: This natural history study will create a databank of ovarian tissue. The NIH will provide OTC as a clinical service. The NIH will also request a portion of the tissue to use for research. Eligibility: Females aged 4 to 35 who opt to have OTC before receiving cancer treatment. Design: Participants will be screened. Their existing medical records will be reviewed. They will be asked if they want to donate a portion of their ovarian tissue for research. No more than 20% of the tissue collected will be taken for research. Some other tissues that would otherwise be discarded will also be kept. Medical data from each participant may also be collected and stored in the database. This data may include results of routine blood tests, imaging tests, and other information. The data will be coded for privacy. Participants will answer a questionnaire. They will be asked about their fertility treatment and general health. The survey takes about 30 minutes. They will repeat the questionnaire once a year for 30 years. Read Less

Background: A type of drug called monoclonal antibody immune checkpoint inhibitors are often used in cancer treatment. These drugs help the body s immune system fight cancer by blocking proteins that cause cancer cells to grow. One of these drugs (atezolizumab) is approved to treat certain cancers. Researchers want to find out if lower doses of this drug might provide the same benefit with fewer adverse effects. Objective: To test different doses and timing of atezolizumab for people with cancer. Eligibility: People aged 18 years and older with cancer that has spread locally or to other organs. They must be eligible for treatment with the study drug. Design: Participants will be screened. They will have blood tests and imaging scans. They will provide a sample of tissue from their tumor. Atezolizumab is administered through a tube attached to a needle inserted into a vein in the arm. Participants will take this drug alone or combined with other drugs prescribed for their care. The first 2 treatments will be done per the FDA recommended dose and schedule. Before administering the second dose of the study drug, researchers will check the level of the drug in the participant s blood. Depending on those results, their 3rd dose will be scheduled 2 to 6 weeks later. For the 3rd dose of the study drug, participants will switch to the FDA minimum dosage. Dosages of any other drugs will not change. Researchers will continue to test the levels of the drug in participants blood before each treatment for 16 weeks. After that, these levels will be tested every 3 months. Study treatment may last up to 2 years. Read Less

Background: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) removes tumors in the abdomen. HIPEC is heated chemotherapy that washes the abdomen. CRS and HIPEC may help people with peritoneal carcinomatosis. These are tumors that have spread to the lining of the abdomen from other cancers. Researchers think they can improve results of CRS and HIPEC by choosing the chemotherapy drugs used in HIPEC. Objective: To see if HIPEC after CRS can be improved, by testing different chemotherapy drugs, using a model called the SMART (Sample Microenvironment of Resected Metastatic Tumor) System. Eligibility: Adults ages 18 and older who have peritoneal carcinomatosis that cannot be fully removed safely with surgery. Design: Participants will be screened with: Medical history Physical exam Blood and urine tests Computed tomography (CAT) scan Other imaging scans, as needed Electrocardiogram (EKG) Tumor biopsy, if needed Laparoscopy. Small cuts will be made in the abdomen. A tube with a light and a camera will be used to see their organs. Some screening tests will be repeated in the study. Participants will enroll in NIH protocol #13C0176. This allows their tumor samples to be used in future research. Participants will have CRS. As many of their visible tumors will be removed as possible. They will also have HIPEC. Two thin tubes will be put in their abdomen. They will get chemotherapy through one tube. It will be drained out through the other tube. They will be in the hospital for 7-21 days after surgery. Participants will give tumor, blood, and fluid samples for research. They will complete surveys about their health and quality of life. Participants will have follow-up visits over 5 years. Read Less

Background: * It is not fully understood why prostate cancer in some men becomes androgen-independent (no longer responds to anti-androgen medication), but genetics likely plays an important role. * Genes contain the hereditary information that is passed down from parents to children. Although everyone has the same set of genes, individuals can have different forms of the same gene. * Differences in genes may explain, at least in part, why some people develop a more aggressive form of prostate cancer than others. Objectives: -To obtain blood samples from patients with prostate cancer to try to identify gene differences associated with progression to the androgen independent state. Eligibility: -All participants participating in NCI prostate cancer protocols. Design: * Participants with prostate cancer are evaluated in the NCI s Medical Oncology Clinic. * Blood samples are collected at the initial visit or at follow-up visits. * DNA (genetic material) and white blood cells are extracted from these samples to be used for genotyping and establishment of cell lines. * Gene variations are correlated with prostate cancer prognosis and prognostic indicators. Read Less

Study rationale High risk patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) require therapy with 131 I under thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulation. There are two methods of TSH stimulation endogenous by thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) leading to hypothyroidism and exogenous by injection of human recombinant TSH (rhTSH Thyrogen). The appropriate 131-I activity utilized for treatment is either based on empiric fixed dosage choice or individually determined activity based on 131 I dosimetric calculations. Although dosimetry utilizing radioactive iodine isotope 131 I enables calculation of maximum safe dose, it does not estimate the tumoricidal activity necessary to destroy the metastatic lesions. The alternative radioactive isotope of iodine -124 I, used for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, might be used for calculation not only the maximum safe131 I dose, but also to predict the absorbed dose in the metastatic lesions. Study objectives The primary objective of this study is to compare the 124 I -PET/CT lesional and whole body dosimetry in each individual patient with metastatic radioiodine (RAI)-avid thyroid cancer under preparation with rhTSH and THW. The secondary objective is to evaluate the predicted by PET/CT lesional uptake with the early response to therapy. Study design This is a phase 2 pilot prospective cohort study comparing the lesional and whole body dosimetry within each patient undergoing exogenous (rhTSH) and endogenous (THW) TSH stimulation and followed for 5 years. Interventions Each study participant will undergo rhTSH and THW-aided 124 I-PET/CT dosimetric evaluations and will be subsequently treated with THW-aided RAI activity based on dosimetric calculations enabling maximum safe dosage. The patients will be followed in 12+/-3 months intervals for 5 years. Sample size and population This pilot study will include 30 patients with high risk differentiated thyroid cancer presenting with distant and/or loco-regional metastases. Read Less

This study collects blood and tissue samples from patients with cancer and without cancer to evaluate tests for early cancer detection. Collecting and storing samples of blood and tissue from patients with and without cancer to study in the laboratory may help researchers develop tests for the early detection of cancers. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding cetuximab to pembrolizumab versus pembrolizumab alone in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent) and/or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Cetuximab is in a class of medications called monoclonal antibodies. It binds to a protein called EGFR, which is found on some types of tumor cells. This may help keep tumor cells from growing. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving cetuximab and pembrolizumab together may be more effective at treating patients with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC than pembrolizumab alone. Read Less

Background: - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. It causes more than one million deaths every year. Researchers want to gather tissue samples from people with lung and thymic cancers to understand the disease better. This may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat it. Objective: - To collect tissue samples for use in the study of lung cancers. Eligibility: - Adults over age 18 with non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, extra pulmonary small cell cancer, pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors, and thymic epithelial tumors. Design: * Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, and blood tests. They will be asked about how they perform their daily tasks. * Participants may be asked to give urine and blood samples. They may give a saliva sample if they cannot give blood. They will also give a sample of their tumor from a biopsy they had. They may also be given the option to undergo a biopsy. * Participants may have MRI, CT, and/or PET scans of the body. They will lie in a machine that takes pictures of the body. * After visits to the Clinical Center end, researchers will contact participants by phone every year to check on their health. Read Less

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of death in males in the United States. Researchers want to find additional gene mutations that may increase a man s risk for prostate cancer and may affect how aggressive the disease is. Objective: To look at gene mutations in men with prostate cancer as well as the course of their disease to better understand how gene mutations relate to the way the cancer progresses and responds to treatment. Eligibility: Adult males 18 and older with prostate cancer who have at least one of the gene mutations researchers want to study and/or have been treated for their cancer and have had complete elimination of their cancer or stable disease for a long time. Design: Participants will be screened with a review of their medical records. Their gene test results will be reviewed, if available. They will be asked questions over the phone or in person. Participants do not need to visit the NIH for this study. But if they visit NIH for another study, their data and test results will be collected. They may give blood and urine samples. They may give leftover tumor samples. These samples will be used to study their genes. Participants who do not come to NIH on regular basis will be contacted every 6 months by phone or e-mail. They will be asked questions about their health. Data from their medical records will be collected. Participants will have testosterone and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests. Participants may be invited to NIH to give blood samples for research. Participants on this study will be followed for life.... Read Less