Cyclophosphamide Treatment Options in Chicago, IL

Related donor stem cell transplantation using the alemtuzumab/ TBI platform has been shown to be a safe strategy to cure severe sickle cell disease. However, due to a lack of suitable donors, many patients cannot benefit from this strategy. Alternative donor sources are desperately needed to fill this gap. Nearly all patients will have a haploidentical family member who would be able to donate. The use of post transplantation cyclophosphamide has greatly improved the outcome of haploidentical stem cell transplantation. The investigators propose to combine this with alemtuzumab/TBI conditioning. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy such as cyclophosphamide, prednisone, and methylprednisolone use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Combining cyclophosphamide and either prednisone or methylprednisolone with rituximab may be effective in treating lymphoproliferative disease following organ transplantation. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining cyclophosphamide and either prednisone or methylprednisolone with rituximab in treating patients who have Epstein-Barr virus-positive lymphoproliferative disease following organ transplantation. Read Less

RATIONALE: Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving chemotherapy before surgery may shrink the tumor so that it can be removed during surgery. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to determine the effectiveness of specialized radiation therapy either alone or after chemotherapy and second surgery in treating children who have undergone surgery for localized ependymoma. Read Less

This randomized phase III trial is studying tacrolimus, methotrexate, and sirolimus to see how well they work compared to tacrolimus and methotrexate in preventing graft-versus-host disease in young patients who are undergoing donor stem cell transplant for intermediate-risk or high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia in second complete remission and high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission. Giving chemotherapy, such as thiotepa and cyclophosphamide, and total-body irradiation before a donor stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It also helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune cells and help destroy any remaining cancer cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving tacrolimus, methotrexate, and sirolimus after the transplant may stop this from happening. It is not yet known whether tacrolimus and methotrexate are more effective with or without sirolimus in preventing graft-versus-host disease. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known which regimen of combination chemotherapy is most effective for lymphoblastic lymphoma. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying different regimens of combination chemotherapy to compare how well they work in treating children or adolescents with newly diagnosed stage III or stage IV lymphoblastic lymphoma. Read Less

This randomized phase III trial is studying giving fluorouracil together with epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel and trastuzumab to see how well it works compared with giving paclitaxel together with trastuzumab followed by fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and trastuzumab in treating women with palpable breast cancer that can be removed by surgery. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. It is not yet known whether it is more effective to give combination chemotherapy before or after treatment with paclitaxel plus trastuzumab. Read Less

This randomized phase II trial studies how well giving busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and melphalan or busulfan and fludarabine phosphate before donor hematopoietic cell transplant works in treating younger patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Giving chemotherapy before a donor hematopoietic transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It may also stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into the patient, they may help the patient's bone marrow make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. It is not yet known whether giving busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and melphalan or busulfan and fludarabine phosphate before a donor stem cell transplant is more effective in treating juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy or radiation therapy used to kill tumor cells. Sometimes the transplanted cells are rejected by the body's normal tissues. Transplanting donated cells that have been treated with psoralen may prevent this from happening. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and psoralen-treated donor cells in treating patients who are undergoing peripheral stem cell transplantation for hematologic cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether radiation therapy alone is as effective as chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating germ cell tumor. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy alone to see how well it works compared to chemotherapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed primary CNS germ cell tumor. Read Less

MG may be neonatal, congenital, or autoimmune. Neonatal MG arises from transplacental transfer of ACh receptor antibodies from a mother with autoimmune MG to the fetus. Neonatal MG resolves with post delivery clearance of maternal antibodies. Congenital MG results from a genetic defect in the ACh receptor. Patients with congenital MG do not have ACh receptor antibodies. Both neonatal and congenital MG are excluded from this study. Autoimmune MG, which is the most common form of MG, affects approximately 25,000 Americans. Like most autoimmune diseases, it is associated with particular HLA genotypes, has a female predominance, and environmental factors involved in breaking tolerance to the ACh receptor are unknown. Patients with refractory and severe autoimmune MG will be considered candidates for this study. The purpose of this study is to assess the toxicity/feasibility (phase I) of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for refractory myasthenia gravis. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some find cancer cells and help kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. Others interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Giving combination chemotherapy together with rituximab may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with rituximab works in treating patients with newly diagnosed AIDS-related B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read Less

Test the safety, immune response and efficacy of GVAX pancreas vaccine (with cyclophosphamide) and CRS-207 compared to chemotherapy or CRS-207 alone in adults with previously treated metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma Read Less