Cancer Clinical Trials in Philadelphia, PA

Research indicates that perceived stigma within medical encounters is prevalent and problematic for lung cancer patients' well-being and quality of cancer care. Promoting empathic communication appears to be a potentially effective intervention target to help reduce patients' perceptions of stigma within clinical encounters; however, no formal trainings exist that focus on teaching empathic communication to oncology care providers (OCPs). Building upon favorable findings from a prior R21 (R21CA202793) and the importance of developing interventions to address lung cancer stigma, our goal is to conduct a national trial of empathic communication skills (ECS) training to facilitate improvements in the medical and psychosocial care of patients through de-stigmatizing interactions with OCPs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Read Less

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common form of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The traditional first line treatment for patients with advanced DTC after surgical resection is radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. However, less than a quarter of patients with lung metastases will achieve a complete response to RAI therapy, and this therapy carries the risk of pulmonary fibrosis and an increasingly recognized risk of secondary malignancies. Read Less

This is a Phase 1/2, multi-center, open-label basket study designed to evaluate the safety and anti-tumor activity of IDE196 in patients with solid tumors harboring GNAQ or GNA11 (GNAQ/11) mutations or PRKC fusions, including metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM), cutaneous melanoma, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors. Phase 1 (dose escalation - monotherapy) will assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of IDE196 via standard dose escalation scheme and determine the recommended Phase 2 dose. Safety and anti-tumor activity will be assessed in the Phase 2 (dose expansion) part of the study. Phase 1 (dose escalation - binimetib combination) will assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of IDE196 and binimetinib via standard dose escalation scheme and determine the recommended Phase 2 dose. Safety and anti-tumor activity will be assessed in the Phase 2 (dose expansion) part of the study. Phase 1 (dose escalation - crizotinib combination) will assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of IDE196 and crizotinib via standard dose escalation scheme and determine the recommended Phase 2 dose. Safety and anti-tumor activity will be assessed in the Phase 2 (dose expansion) part of the study. Evaluation of safety and efficacy across multiple doses may be explored in the dose optimization part of the study. Crizotinib monotherapy with crossover to combination cohort may be assessed for safety and to show the contribution of each study drug to anti-tumor activity. As of Protocol Amendment 10, Phase 1, Phase 2 dose expansion in IDE196 monotherapy, and Phase 2 dose expansion of IDE196 in combination with binimetinib have been fully enrolled. There were no patients enrolled in the crizotinib monotherapy cohorts. Read Less

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common form of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The traditional first line treatment for patients with advanced DTC after surgical resection is radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. However, less than a quarter of patients with lung metastases will achieve a complete response to RAI therapy, and this therapy carries the risk of pulmonary fibrosis and an increasingly recognized risk of secondary malignancies. Read Less

The investigators hypothesize that intensification of local therapy will lead to improvements in local control and survival in patients with unresectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. We propose to do this by combining nab-paclitaxel concurrently with dose-escalated radiation therapy. In the first part of this phase I study (sub-trial 1), the nab-paclitaxel dose will be escalated while the radiation dose is held constant at a standardly accepted level. The use of this novel chemoradiotherapy regimen will take advantage of nab-paclitaxel's specific anti-tumor and anti-stromal properties, which may enhance the efficacy of radiation therapy, and thereby improve local control. After the MTD of nab-paclitaxel had been determined, a second arm in sub-trial 1 will evaluate the addition of paricalcitol to nab-paclitaxel concurrently with dose-escalated radiation therapy. In addition, after the MTD of the nab-paclitaxel is reached in sub-trial 1 arm A, in the second part of this study (sub-trial 2), we will administer nab-paclitaxel at the determined MTD concurrently with escalated doses of radiation. We will utilize IMRT or protons to safely deliver high doses of radiation while maximally sparing surrounding normal tissue. Patients will also preferentially have 2-3 fiducial markers placed in or around the tumor for daily localization. Chemotherapy before and/or after chemoradiotherapy may be given as per standard of care. Correlative tissue and serum biomarkers are an important, but optional, part of this study. Read Less

Phase 1 trial to study the safety, pharmacokinetic and Preliminary Efficacy of STRO-002 in combination with Bevacizumab. Read Less

This phase III trial tests two questions by two separate comparisons of therapies. The first question is whether enhanced therapy (apalutamide in combination with abiraterone + prednisone) added to standard of care (prostate radiation therapy and short term androgen deprivation) is more effective compared to standard of care alone in patients with prostate cancer who experience biochemical recurrence (a rise in the blood level of prostate specific antigen \[PSA\] after surgical removal of the prostate cancer). A second question tests treatment in patients with biochemical recurrence who show prostate cancer spreading outside the pelvis (metastasis) by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. In these patients, the benefit of adding metastasis-directed radiation to enhanced therapy (apalutamide in combination with abiraterone + prednisone) is tested. Diagnostic procedures, such as PET, may help doctors look for cancer that has spread to the pelvis. Androgens are hormones that may cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Apalutamide may help fight prostate cancer by blocking the use of androgens by the tumor cells. Metastasis-directed targeted radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors that have spread. This trial may help doctors determine if using PET results to deliver more tailored treatment (i.e., adding apalutamide, with or without targeted radiation therapy, to standard of care treatment) works better than standard of care treatment alone in patients with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. Read Less

This phase II/III trial compares the effect of adding chemotherapy before and after surgery versus after surgery alone (usual treatment) in treating patients with stage II-III gallbladder cancer. Chemotherapy drugs, such as gemcitabine and cisplatin, 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 chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller; therefore, may reduce the extent of surgery. Additionally, it may make it easier for the surgeon to distinguish between normal and cancerous tissue. Giving chemotherapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells. This study will determine whether giving chemotherapy before surgery increases the length of time before the cancer may return and whether it will increase a patient's life span compared to the usual approach. Read Less

This phase III trial compares hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) (pump chemotherapy) in addition to standard of care chemotherapy versus standard of care chemotherapy alone in treating patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver (liver metastases) and cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). HAI uses a catheter to carry a tumor-killing chemotherapy drug called floxuridine directly into the liver. HAI is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver, but it is only available at a small number of hospitals, and most of the time it is not used until standard chemotherapy stops working. Standard 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. Adding HAI to standard chemotherapy may be effective in shrinking or stabilizing unresectable colorectal liver metastases. Read Less

The main purpose of this study is to determine the safety, tolerability (how your body reacts to the drug) and effectiveness (ability to treat your cancer) of REGN5678 alone, or in combination with cemiplimab. The study has 2 parts. The goal of Part 1 (dose escalation) is to determine a safe dose(s) of REGN5678 when it is given alone or in combination with cemiplimab. The goal of Part 2 (dose expansion) is to use the REGN5678 drug dose(s) found in Part 1 to see how well REGN5678 alone or in combination with cemiplimab works to shrink tumors. This study is looking at several other research questions, including: 1. Side effects that may be experienced by taking REGN5678 alone or in combination with cemiplimab 2. How REGN5678 alone or in combination with cemiplimab works in the body 3. How much REGN5678 and/or cemiplimab are present in the blood 4. To see if REGN5678 alone or in combination with cemiplimab works to reduce the size of the tumor by helping the immune system destroy the tumor Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of completing PROs among AYAs randomized to Choice PRO vs Fixed PRO. Read Less

Prostate cancer is also the most common cancer in men with inherited pathogenic variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Beyond BRCA1/2, other genes are known to increase the risk of prostate cancer, including ATM, TP53 and HOXB13. We have shown that 5% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer localized to their prostate gland and up to 10-15% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer gland are carriers of an inherited gene mutation. The Prostate Tissue BioBank is a prospective study which aims to create a biorepository of prostate tissue samples from prostate biopsies and prostatectomies and matched germline DNA from pathogenic mutation carriers in addition to age-matched control samples. Our primary goal is to investigate prostate cancer development and treatment response in carriers of germline DNA repair mutations, as compared to non-carrier controls. Read Less