Cancer Clinical Trials in Philadelphia, PA

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 is a Phase I study evaluating the safety and feasibility of lentiviral transduced huCART-meso cells when given in combination with VCN-01 in a 3+3 dose (de)escalation design. Read Less

This randomized phase III trial studies how well crizotinib works in treating patients with stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer that has been removed by surgery and has a mutation in a protein called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Mutations, or changes, in ALK can make it very active and important for tumor cell growth and progression. Crizotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the ALK protein from working. Crizotinib may be an effective treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and an ALK fusion mutation. Read Less

This is an open-label phase 1 study to assess the safety and feasibility of autologous T cells expressing a single-chain scFv targeting GFRα4 with tandem TCR/CD3ζ and 4-1BB (TCRζ/4-1BB) co-stimulatory domains (referred to as "CART-GFRa4 cells") in patients with incurable medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Read Less

A Phase II Multi-Arm (basket) Trial Investigating the Safety and Efficacy of IO102-IO103 in Combination with pembrolizumab, as First-line Treatment for Patients with Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head or Neck (SCCHN), or Metastatic Urothelial Bladder Cancer (mUBC) Read Less

The goal of this trial is to design and test a telehealth nurse navigation intervention for patients with suspected locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC to improve timely molecularly-informed treatment recommendations through early integration of concurrent molecular testing. Read Less

Phase I study with the hypothesis that Pulsed Low Dose Radiation (PLDR) radiation delivery technique can significantly decrease the rate of severe acute esophagitis in patients receiving concurrent Chemo-radiation therapy (CRT) for non-small cell lung cancer or esophageal cancer while maintaining similar efficacy. For these patients, the rate of severe acute esophagitis during concurrent CRT is high (approximately 20%) when conventional external beam radiation is utilized. Severe acute esophagitis can cause many adverse consequences such as severe discomfort, weight loss, hospitalization, interruption/early termination of treatment, and worse surgical complications for those who receive surgery after CRT. PLDR radiation has the potential to maintain the tumor control rates of conventional radiation while decreasing the toxicity to the surrounding normal tissue 29-35. We have completed accrual to a phase I PLDR radiation study, in which patient received palliative re-irradiation with PLDR technique for their metastatic disease in previous irradiated field. In that phase I study, PLDR demonstrated safety for acute toxicities in the setting of re-irradiation for a total dose of 50 Gy, with analysis of 60 Gy pending. The follow up time for that phase I study is limited as most enrolled patients have short overall survival due to their terminal illness. This proposed phase I study is, to our knowledge, the first clinical study with combination of PLDR radiation and concurrent chemotherapy for definitive treatment. Read Less

For patients with certain types of bladder cancer, the removal of the bladder and the construction of an artificial bladder or reservoir are the only treatment options. Both before and after treatment, patients and caregivers face profound challenges preparing for surgery and planning for tasks during their recovery. To aid in recovery and enhance quality of life this program of research will develop and evaluate a multi-stage intervention geared towards patients and their caregivers. Part 1 of this program will have a nurse or trained health professional prepare both patients and their caregivers before treatment about the upcoming surgery. During this time the nurse will also demonstrate the necessary tools and techniques for stoma care. In addition, patients and their caregivers will receive access to a recovery website, specifically designed for bladder cancer patients to be used as a resource for after treatment. The website will be part 2 of this research and will contain important recovery information, videos about post-surgical care, testimonials by other patients and physicians and a variety of other resources. Patients and caregivers in the control group will receive the Facing Forward brochures from the National Cancer Institute in part 2. This research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and will be the first study to address the needs of bladder cancer patients and their caregivers. The ultimate goal of the study is to reduce infections and unplanned nurse/ER visits and improve quality of life for both patients and their caregivers. This new program will be evaluated over the course of 12-months and if found successful, has the potential to be disseminated throughout the health care systems of the two study sites. Read Less

Our intent is to establish the International Registry to Improve Outcomes in Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer (IRONMAN) as a prospective, international cohort of minimum 5,000 men with advanced cancer, including men with mHSPC and M0/M1 CRPC. The goal is to establish a population-based registry and recruit patients across academic and community practices from Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Target accrual number and number of participating sites are subject to change based on accrual, funding, and interest in participation by other international sites. This cohort study will facilitate a better understanding of the variation in care and treatment of advanced prostate cancer across countries and across academia and community based practices. Detailed data will be collected from patients at study enrollment and then during follow-up, for a minimum of five years. Patients will be followed prospectively for overall survival, clinically significant adverse events, comorbidities, changes in cancer treatments, and PROMs. PROMs questionnaires will be collected at enrollment and every three months thereafter. Physician Questionnaires will be collected from all participating sites at patient enrollment, time of first change in treatment and/or one year follow-up, at each subsequent change of treatment, and discontinuation of treatment. As such, this registry will help identify the treatment sequences or combinations that optimize overall survival and PROMs for men with mHSPC and M0/M1 CRPC. By collecting blood at enrollment, time of first change in treatment and/or one year follow-up (plasma, cell free DNA, buffy coat / RNA), this registry will further identify and validate molecular phenotypes of disease that predict response and resistance to specific therapeutics. Additionally, every effort will be made to collect blood specimen at each subsequent change in treatment due to progression of disease. When feasible, existing tumor tissue may be collected for correlation with described blood based studies. All samples will be used for future research. This cohort study will provide the research community with a unique biorepository to identify biomarkers of treatment response and resistance. Read Less

The rationale for the study is to obtain safety and efficacy data as well as to establish dose parameters for the SpectraCure P18 System with IDOSE®, with verteporfin for injection (VFI) as photosensitizer for the treatment of recurrent prostate cancer. Read Less

Up to 30 men with metastatic prostate cancer will undergo up to 2 FTT PET/CT scans to look at PARP activity in sites of known cancer. Subjects will undergo a baseline scan prior to starting new therapy and a second, optional, post-therapy scan 1-21 days after the start of treatment. Tissue from a clinical or research biopsy will be compared to imaging measures, if available. Read Less

This study is an interventional study intended to assess the impact of a centralized outreach intervention that includes shared decision-making about lung cancer screening (LCS) in LCS-eligible primary care patients. The study's goal is to increase LCS rates compared to usual care and thus reduce lung cancer deaths. Read Less