Cancer Clinical Trials in Allentown, PA

This phase II trial tests whether the addition of radiation to the primary tumor, typically given with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR), in combination with standard of care immunotherapy improves outcomes in patients with renal cell cancer that is not recommended for surgery and has spread to other places in the body (metastatic). Radiation therapy uses high energy photons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Stereotactic body radiation therapy uses special equipment to position a patient and deliver radiation to tumors with high precision. This method may kill tumor cells with fewer doses of radiation over a shorter period and cause less damage to normal tissue. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, ipilimumab, avelumab, and pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Axitinib, cabozantinib, and lenvatinib are in a class of medications called antiangiogenic agents. They work by stopping the formation of blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to tumor. This may slow the growth and spread of tumor. Giving SABR in combination with standard of care immunotherapy may help shrink or stabilize the cancer in patients with renal cell cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to find out how often the researchers can avoid an ALND in patients with early-stage, node-positive HR+/HER2- breast cancer who are having upfront surgery. The study researchers think that, if AUS before surgery can help identify people who may have up to 3 affected lymph nodes, it will be possible to perform the less radical standard SLNB during surgery. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of stereotactic radiosurgery to standard of care memantine and whole brain radiation therapy that avoids the hippocampus (the memory zone of the brain) for the treatment of small cell lung cancer that has spread to the brain. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a specialized radiation therapy that delivers a single, high dose of radiation directly to the tumor and may cause less damage to normal tissue. Whole brain radiation therapy delivers a low dose of radiation to the entire brain including the normal brain tissue. Hippocampal avoidance during whole-brain radiation therapy (HA-WBRT) decreases the amount of radiation that is delivered to the hippocampus which is a brain structure that is important for memory. The drug, memantine, is also often given with whole brain radiotherapy because it may decrease the risk of side effects related to thinking and memory. Stereotactic radiosurgery may decrease side effects related to memory and thinking compared to standard of care HA-WBRT plus memantine. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab versus standard of care chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer that is stage IV or that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent). Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow. 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 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. This trial may help doctors find out if giving ramucirumab with pembrolizumab is more effective at treating patients with stage IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer than standard chemotherapy. Read Less

This phase III trial compares less intense hormone therapy and radiation therapy to usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with high risk prostate cancer and low gene risk score. This trial also compares more intense hormone therapy and radiation therapy to usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy in patients with high risk prostate cancer and high gene risk score. Apalutamide may help fight prostate cancer by blocking the use of androgen by the tumor cells. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Giving a shorter hormone therapy treatment may work the same at controlling prostate cancer compared to the usual 24 month hormone therapy treatment in patients with low gene risk score. Adding apalutamide to the usual treatment may increase the length of time without prostate cancer spreading as compared to the usual treatment in patients with high gene risk score. Read Less

This phase III trial studies how well the addition of radiotherapy to the usual treatment (chemotherapy) works compared to the usual treatment alone in treating patients with esophageal and gastric cancer that has spread to a limited number of other places in the body (oligometastatic disease). Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays, gamma rays, or protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Drugs used in usual chemotherapy, such as leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and capecitabine, 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. Adding radiotherapy to the usual chemotherapy may work better compared to the usual chemotherapy alone in treating patients with esophageal and gastric cancer. Read Less

Drugs called checkpoint inhibitors help the immune system fight cancer. When the effectiveness of these drugs wears off, it may be possible to renew their effectiveness by combining it with a special type of radiation therapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). SBRT is a commonly used type of radiation therapy that gives high dose radiation with high precision to tumors in 1-5 treatments. Radiation therapy, such as SBRT can also treat sites of metastases. The use of checkpoint inhibitors in combination with SBRT has been suggested to improve the immune response against cancer but has not been tested in a formal clinical trial. Up to three lesions can be treated with SBRT. This study only allows checkpoint inhibitors that are already approved by the Federal Drug Agency (FDA) for the treatment of your disease. All radiation therapy will be done on machines which are FDA approved. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of active symptom monitoring and patient education to patient education alone in helping young women with stage I-III breast cancer stay on their hormone therapy medicines. The patient education tool contains interactive weblinks which provide patients with education material about breast cancer and side effects of therapy. Symptom monitoring is a weblink via email or text message with questions asking about symptoms. Hormone therapy for breast cancer can cause side effects, and may cause some women to stop treatment early. Asking about symptoms more often may help women keep taking hormone therapy medicines. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine whether certain genes in cancer may be abnormal. When a gene is abnormal this is called a mutation. Most mutations in cancer cells are not inherited (passed down from parents) but happen after birth in the cancer itself. Most cancers have many mutations. Some of these mutations are important for the cancer cells to survive while others are not. The goal of this study is test cancer for certain mutations using leftover tumor tissue from a previous surgery or biopsy. Participants will also be asked to provide a tube of blood cheek (also known as a buccal) swab, or a saliva sample that contains normal genes for comparison. The purpose of Part B of this study is to: Understand how genetic changes in tumor effect the chance of responding to experimental cancer treatment. Understand how the genes in the tumor change overtime in response to targeted cancer treatment. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effects of shorter chemotherapy (chemo)-immunotherapy without anthracyclines to usual chemo-immunotherapy for the treatment of early-stage triple negative breast cancer. Paclitaxel is in a class of medications called anti-microtubule agents. It stops cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Carboplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Cyclophosphamide is in a class of medications called alkylating agents. It works by damaging the cell's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and may kill cancer cells. It may also lower the body's immune response. Docetaxel is in a class of medications called taxanes. It stops cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Doxorubicin is an anthracycline chemotherapy drug that damages DNA and may kill cancer cells. Pembrolizumab may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Shorter treatment without anthracycline chemotherapy may work the same as the usual anthracycline chemotherapy treatment for early-stage triple negative breast cancer. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of modified fluorouracil, leucovorin calcium, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (mFOLFIRINOX) to modified fluorouracil, leucovorin calcium, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX) for the treatment of advanced, unresectable, or metastatic HER2 negative esophageal, gastroesophageal junction, and gastric adenocarcinoma. The usual approach for patients is treatment with FOLFOX chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs 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. Fluorouracil stops cells from making DNA and it may kill tumor cells. Leucovorin is used with fluorouracil to enhance the effects of the drug. Oxaliplatin works by killing, stopping, or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Some patients also receive an immunotherapy drug, nivolumab, in addition to FOLFOX chemotherapy. Immunotherapy may induce changes in body's immune system and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Irinotecan blocks certain enzymes needed for cell division and DNA repair, and it may kill tumor cells. Adding irinotecan to the FOLFOX regimen could shrink the cancer and extend the life of patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancers. Read Less

This screening and multi-sub-study randomized phase II/III trial will establish a method for genomic screening of similar large cancer populations followed by assigning and accruing simultaneously to a multi-sub-study hybrid Master Protocol (Lung-MAP). The type of cancer trait (biomarker) will determine to which sub-study, within this protocol, a participant will be assigned to compare new targeted cancer therapy, designed to block the growth and spread of cancer, or combinations to standard of care therapy with the ultimate goal of being able to approve new targeted therapies in this setting. In addition, the protocol includes non-match sub-studies which will include all screened patients not eligible for any of the biomarker-driven sub-studies. Read Less