Cyclophosphamide Treatment Options in Maryland

The purpose of this study is to determine if high-dose cyclophosphamide followed by a maintenance dose of glatiramer acetate is safe in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The investigators hypothesize that institution of glatiramer acetate treatment following high-dose cyclophosphamide treatment will extend the period of disease free activity and further reduce the disability in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. The investigators plan to investigate the properties of glatiramer acetate against the recurrence of MS disease activity following high dose cyclophosphamide induced cessation detectable autoimmunity. The investigators hypothesize that glatiramer acetate, given in the phase of immune reconstitution after high-dose cyclophosphamide, may bias the immune system to a more tolerated state, thus leading to more stable and potentially permanent remissions. Read Less

This research is being done to see if a PET scan that is obtained after 3 cycles of a standard chemotherapy regimen can help guide treatment for patients with a blood disease called Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The standard treatment for newly diagnosed lymphoma is 6 to 8 cycles of chemotherapy like the CHOP combination (Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone). This regimen can cure about half of patients with lymphoma, but in many others disease relapses (comes back). Relapses are generally treated with more chemotherapy. We believe that a PET scan (a type of imaging study that "lights up" in areas of cells with high activity such as lymphoma), may identify patients early who are at high risk of relapse. The purpose of this research study is to find out if people whose treatment is changed early to an intensification regimen (high dose chemotherapy) based on a positive PET scan will have longer remissions than they would if they did not receive that high dose chemotherapy. Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to assess the ability of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and high-dose post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PT/Cy) to induce renal allograft tolerance and thus enable discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy in haploidentical living related donor renal transplant recipients. 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. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some block the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Others find cancer cells and help kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. 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 Burkitt's lymphoma or leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: High-dose cyclophosphamide may be an effective treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease that did not respond to steroid therapy. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying the side effects, best dose, and how well high-dose cyclophosphamide works in treating patients with acute graft-versus-host disease that did not respond to steroid therapy. Read Less

Background: - The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surgery Branch has developed an experimental therapy that involves taking white blood cells from patients' tumors, growing them in the laboratory in large numbers, and then giving the cells back to the patient. These cells are called Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, or TIL and we have given this type of treatment to over 200 patients with melanoma. This study will use chemotherapy to prepare the immune system before this white blood cell treatment. After receiving the cells, the drug aldesleukin (IL-2) may be given to help the cells stay alive longer. Objectives: - To see if chemotherapy and white blood cell therapy is a safe and effective treatment for advanced ocular melanoma. Eligibility: - Individuals at least greater than or equal to 16 years to less than or equal to 75 years who have advanced ocular melanoma. Design: * Work up stage: Patients will be seen as an outpatient at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical Center and undergo a history and physical examination, scans, x-rays, lab tests, and other tests as needed. * Surgery: If the patients meet all of the requirements for the study they will undergo surgery to remove a tumor that can be used to grow the TIL product. * Leukapheresis: Patients may undergo leukapheresis to obtain additional white blood cells. {Leukapheresis is a common procedure, which removes only the white blood cells from the patient.} * Treatment: Once their cells have grown, the patients will be admitted to the hospital for the conditioning chemotherapy, the TIL cells and aldesleukin. They will stay in the hospital for about 4 weeks for the treatment. * Follow up: Patients will return to the clinic for a physical exam, review of side effects, lab tests, and scans about every 1-3 months for the first year, and then every 6 months to 1 year as long as their tumors are shrinking. Follow up visits take up to 2 days. Read Less

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy before a donor bone marrow transplant helps stop the growth of cancer and abnormal cells and helps 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. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, or tacrolimus after transplant may stop this from happening. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil works in treating patients who are undergoing a donor bone marrow transplant for hematologic cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as G-CSF, and certain chemotherapy drugs, helps stem cells move from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected. Treating stem cells collected from the patient's blood or bone marrow with chemotherapy in the laboratory removes any remaining cancer cells. Chemotherapy or radiation therapy is given to the patient to prepare the bone marrow for stem cell transplant. The treated stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well an autologous peripheral stem cell or bone marrow transplant using laboratory-treated cells works in treating patients with acute leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of abnormal blood cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving cyclophosphamide together with donor lymphocytes that have been treated in the laboratory may be an effective treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative disorders. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the best dose of donor lymphocytes when given together with cyclophosphamide in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative disorders. Read Less

This randomized phase II trial studies how well giving bortezomib with or without combination chemotherapy works as consolidation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who have completed stem cell transplant. Bortezomib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone, and lenalidomide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. It is not yet known whether giving bortezomib is more effective with or without combination chemotherapy in the post transplant setting. 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

This phase II trial is studying how well giving fludarabine and cyclophosphamide together with total-body irradiation and rituximab works in treating patients with B-cell lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia who are undergoing an allogeneic (donor) bone marrow transplant. The type of bone marrow transplant is a less intensive or "mini" transplant using a relative as the bone marrow donor. The donated bone marrow stem cells may replace the patient's immune system cells and help destroy any remaining cancer (graft-versus-tumor effect). Patients undergoing this type of transplant often have more than one relative who could be a donor. The trial is also studying a new way of choosing amongst possible donors which might improve how the rituximab works. Read Less