Cyclophosphamide Treatment Options in Maryland

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide, 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 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. Vaccines may help the body build an effective immune response to kill cancer cells. Giving cyclophosphamide and rituximab together with vaccine therapy may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying cyclophosphamide and rituximab followed by two different schedules of vaccine therapy to compare how well they work in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: An infusion of a patient's lymphocytes that have been treated in the laboratory to remove certain immune cells may be an effective treatment for melanoma. Drugs, such as cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, may suppress the immune system so that the patient's immune cells allow the infused lymphocytes to work. Interleukin-2 may help the lymphocytes kill more tumor cells when they are put back in the body. Giving cyclophosphamide and fludarabine followed by an autologous lymphocyte infusion and interleukin-2 may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving cyclophosphamide and fludarabine followed by an autologous lymphocyte infusion and interleukin-2 works in treating patients with refractory or recurrent melanoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage cancer cells. Giving radiation therapy to the head or intrathecal chemotherapy may prevent cancer cells from spreading to the brain. It is not yet known which treatment regimen is more effective for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of radiation therapy to the head or intrathecal chemotherapy plus high dose cytarabine in preventing CNS disease in children who have acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy and a combination of vaccines to treat metastatic breast cancer (breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast) in patients whose cancer cells have a protein called carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) on their surface. Patients who require surgery or radiation therapy, or both, will receive these treatments as well. Patients 18 years of age and older with previously untreated metastatic breast cancer may be eligible for this study. Newly diagnosed patients may not have received prior chemotherapy. Patients previously diagnosed with local disease may have received chemotherapy or radiation therapy at least 18 months before entering the current study. Patients may have received hormonal therapy for stage IV disease. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, x-rays, heart and lung tests, and a test to determine the presence of CEA on their tumor cells. Participants undergo the following procedures: 1. Central venous line: Under local or general anesthesia, an intravenous catheter (plastic tube) is inserted into a major vein in the chest. It is used to give chemotherapy and other medications and to withdraw blood samples. 2. Apheresis: Before beginning treatment and at various times before and after chemotherapy, patients undergo apheresis to collect white blood cells for later re-infusion at the time of immunizations and to evaluate the body's response to the vaccines. For this procedure, blood is collected through the central venous catheter and circulated through a machine that separates the white cells from the rest of the blood. The white cells are removed and frozen for later use. The rest of the blood is returned to the patient through the catheter. 3. First vaccine: Before starting chemotherapy, patients receive one subcutaneous (under the skin) injection of a vaccine called rV-CEA-Tricom, along with subcutaneous injections of granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (Sargramostim), a drug that stimulates the bone marrow to release white blood cells and white cell precursors into the bloodstream. 4. Chemotherapy: * Taxol (paclitaxel)/Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide): Patients receive three to five cycles of Taxol and Cytoxan. Taxol is given as a continuous 72-hour intravenous (intravenous (IV), through a vein) infusion and Cytoxan is given daily for 3 days, intravenously, over 1 hour. Cycles are 21 to 42 (usually 28) days. After each cycle, patients also receive growth colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) (a drug that helps boost white cells. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. LMB-2 immunotoxin can find cancer cells and kill them without harming normal cells. Giving fludarabine and cyclophosphamide followed by LMB-2 immunotoxin may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving fludarabine and cyclophosphamide followed by LMB-2 immunotoxin works in treating patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Inserting a laboratory-treated gene into a person's white blood cells may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Giving cyclophosphamide and fludarabine before a white blood cell infusion may suppress the immune system and allow tumor cells to be killed. Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Aldesleukin may stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill tumor cells. Combining white blood cell infusion with vaccine therapy and aldesleukin may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of gene-modified white blood cells when given together with cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, vaccine therapy, and aldesleukin and to see how well it works in treating patients with metastatic melanoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Donor peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace bone marrow and immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor are rejected by the body's normal cells. Eliminating the T cells from the donor cells before transplanting them and giving cyclosporine may prevent this from happening. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects of T-cell-depleted allogeneic stem cell transplantation after immunoablative induction chemotherapy and reduced-intensity transplantation conditioning (chemotherapy) in treating patients with hematologic malignancies. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of two treatment regimens for patients in developing countries with diffuse non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Bone marrow transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of bone marrow transplantation in treating patients who have hematologic cancer. Read Less

This 2 arm study assessed the efficacy of Mycophenolate Mofetil (MMF; CellCept) compared to cyclophosphamide in inducing a response in patients with lupus nephritis, and the long term efficacy of MMF compared to azathioprine in maintaining remission and renal function. Patients were randomized to receive either MMF (1.5 g twice daily \[bid\]) or cyclophosphamide (0.5-1.0 g/m\^2 in monthly pulses) in the induction phase. Those patients meeting criteria for response were re-randomized for entry into the maintenance phase, to receive either MMF (1 g bid) or azathioprine (2 mg/kg/day). Read Less

Background: The p53 gene normally suppresses tumor growth, but when it is mutated, or damaged, tumors can grow unchecked. In cancers where the p53 gene has mutated, an increased level of p53(overexpression of p53) can be measured in the tumor. Objectives To determine whether advanced cancers that overexpress p53 can be treated effectively with lymphocytes (white blood cells) that have been genetically engineered to contain an anti-p53 protein. Eligibility Patients 18 years of age and older with metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread beyond the original site) Patient's tumor overexpresses p53 Patient's leukocyte antigen type is HLA-A 0201 Design Patients undergo the following procedures: Leukapheresis (on two occasions). This is a method of collecting large numbers of white blood cells. The cells obtained in the first leukapheresis procedure are grown in the laboratory, and the anti-p53 protein is inserted into the cells using an inactivated (harmless)virus in a process called transduction. Cells collected in the second leukapheresis procedure are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the study treatment. Chemotherapy. Patients are given chemotherapy through a vein (intravenously, IV) for 1 week to suppress the immune system so that the patients immune cells do not interfere with the treatment. Treatment with anti-p53 cells. Patients receive an IV infusion of the transduced cells containing anti-p53 protein, followed by infusions of a drug called IL-2, which helps boost the effectiveness of the transduced white cells. Patients may undergo a tumor biopsy (removal of a small piece of tumor tissue). Patients are evaluated with laboratory tests and imaging tests, such as computed tomography (CT) scans 4 to 6 weeks after treatment and then once a month 3 to 4 months to determine the response to treatment. Patients have blood tests at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and then annually for the next 10 years. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to compare two combinations of drugs, epirubicin given with a taxane (ET) or epirubicin given with cyclophosphamide (cytoxan) and followed by a taxane to see if one of the combinations is better at preventing or delaying the time for breast cancer recurrence and death after 3 years. The study will also evaluate the side effects of both treatment combinations. Read Less