Cancer Clinical Trials in Pittsburgh, PA

This phase II trial tests how well neratinib prior to the primary treatment (neoadjuvant) works in treating patients with stage I-III HER2 mutated lobular breast cancers. Neratinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of cancer cells. Giving neratinib in addition to normal therapy may work better in treating cancer than the endocrine therapy patients would normally receive. Read Less

One of the primary criticisms of mammography is that it leads to unneeded stress and anxiety from identification and biopsy of non-cancerous findings. Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) has the potential to significantly reduce biopsy rates for commonly seen benign breast lesions while preserving very high cancer detection. The investigators propose a prospective clinical study of patients with diagnostic mammograms rated as BIRADS 4A or 4B and scheduled for a biopsy, in which, prior to undergoing their scheduled biopsy, a CEM procedure is performed. The investigators will test the primary hypothesis that for soft tissue lesions (i.e. masses, asymmetries, architectural distortions) initially rated BI-RADS 4A/4B adding CEM will reduce, by at least 20%, the number of biopsy recommendations for actually benign cases and, at the same time, provide a negative predictive value (NPV) higher than 95%. 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

The current study is a case control study involving comparisons of tissue interstitial fluid from breast cancer and adjacent non-cancerous tissue as well as that from benign breast lesion and its adjacent non-diseased tissue for a distinguishable breast cancer profile. The purpose of this research is to collect fresh breast nodule/cancer and surrounding non-cancerous tissue for proteomic studies of the interstitial fluid to identify a profile distinguishing breast cancer which will also permit future research on stored interstitial fluid, blood or tissue samples. Specific markers identified from interstitial fluid study will be investigated in blood samples to develop serum markers for breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Additionally, we will perform both prospective and retrospective research on breast cancer involving clinical, demographic, epidemiologic information, treatment, follow-up and outcomes on breast nodule/cancer cases collected. 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

This phase II clinical trial will study the safety and efficacy of onvansertib to treat patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who have either not responded to or are unable to tolerate chemotherapy. Onvansertib is a drug that inhibits polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1), an enzyme that is over-expressed in many cancer cells and is involved in cellular repair. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to further advance the ability to practice personalized medicine by learning which new drug agents are most effective with which types of breast cancer tumors and by learning more about which early indicators of response (tumor analysis prior to surgery via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images along with tissue and blood samples) are predictors of treatment success. Read Less

This is a prospective clinical trial that will examine if biennial contrast-enhanced mammography added to annual 3D mammography (tomosynthesis) substantially improves breast cancer detection with minimal increase in false-positives, in women with a personal history of breast cancer. Read Less

After informed consent, participants will be asked to complete a medical/family history questionnaire and provide a blood sample. Some participants may also be asked to provide a urine sample. Individuals undergoing procedures that require collection of biological samples for clinical purposes may have these samples saved for research purposes. Participants will also be asked for their permission for study investigators to access medical records and/or recontact them for updates to their medical and family histories. Data and biospecimens will be stored for potential future research projects. Read Less

All subjects will receive the vaccine subcutaneously every 3 weeks x 3 with optional yearly booster vaccines up to and including 5 years post last vaccine for those patients who are confirmed responders to the vaccine . The rationale for using Poly-ICLC as an adjuvant are two ongoing trials at University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) of the MUC1 100mer peptide vaccine - one as a therapeutic vaccine in subjects with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer and the other in subjects with advanced colonic adenomas at risk for developing colon cancer. The same formulation, MUC1 100mer peptide admixed with Poly-ICLC, is used in both trials. There has been no toxicity observed and the vaccine is highly immunogenic in early disease. In the proposed NSCLC trial the anti-MUC1 immune response will be thoroughly characterized. Read Less

This study will assess the efficacy and safety of bilateral intra-parotid administration of AAV2-hAQP1 in adults with Grade 2 or Grade 3 radiation-induced late xerostomia. Read Less

The goal of this Phase 1 clinical study is test tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (known as C-TIL051) with NKTR-255 and anti-PD1 therapy for subjects with refractory non-small cell lung cancer. The purpose of this study is to: 1. Test the safety and ability for subjects to tolerate the TIL therapy 2. Measure to see how the NSCLC responds to the TIL therapy Participants will be asked to: * Provide a tumor sample prior to the start of any treatment which will be used to make the C-TIL051. * Receive standard of care treatment until their lung cancer no longer responds * When necessary, the C-TIL051 will be manufactured by the sponsor and sent back to the site * Subject will then receive chemotherapy (called lymphodepletion) for 3 days followed by 2 days of rest * C-TIL051 will then be infused on day 0 followed by NKTR-255 (IL-15) about 12 to 24 hours later * Pembrolizumab will be administered every 3 weeks for up to 2 years NKTR-255 is a novel polymer-conjugated human IL-15 receptor agonist molecule designed to increase the proliferation and survival of memory CD8+ T cells and enhance the formation of long-term immunological memory which may lead to sustained anti-cancer immune response. The combination of NKTR 255 and TIL's could improve proliferation and persistence of cellular therapies leading to enhanced anti-tumor activity. Read Less