Cyclophosphamide Treatment Options in Pittsburgh, PA

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy drugs, such as fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, before a donor peripheral blood 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. 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. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well fludarabine and cyclophosphamide followed by peripheral stem cell transplant works in treating patients with leukemia or lymphoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining chemotherapy and rituximab with peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have mantle cell lymphoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Peripheral blood stem cell transplant using stem cells from the patient or a donor may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy used to kill tumor cells. The donated stem cells may also help destroy any remaining cancer cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well autologous peripheral stem cell transplant followed by donor peripheral stem cell transplant works in treating patients with multiple myeloma. Read Less

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether breast cancer tumors respond (as measured by pathologic complete response: the absence of microscopic evidence of invasive tumor cells in the breast) to combined chemotherapy of AC(doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab or lapatinib or both given before surgery to patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab will also be given to all patients after surgery. The study will also evaluate the toxic effects of the chemotherapy combination, including effects on the heart, and will determine survival and progression-free survival 5 years after treatment. Also, the study will look at whether there are gene expression profiles in the tumor tissue that can predict pathologic complete response. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective in treating childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing different combination chemotherapy regimens to see how well they work in treating children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

This study is for individuals with lupus who have developed complications in their kidneys, or lupus nephritis. The study will determine whether adding the experimental medication abatacept to standard cyclophosphamide therapy is more effective in improving lupus nephritis than standard cyclophosphamide therapy by itself. Read Less

This research study will look at the effects (good or bad) of administering cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, and rituximab. Clinical studies with combination therapy have shown higher response rates than using single drugs, and this study will evaluate the side effects and effectiveness of this combination. 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. Combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy and kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which treatment regimen is more effective for multiple myeloma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of melphalan, total-body irradiation, and peripheral stem cell transplantation with that of combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have previously untreated multiple myeloma. Read Less

This phase II trial studies how well giving imatinib mesylate together with chemotherapy and peripheral stem cell transplantation works in treating patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Imatinib mesylate may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for cancer cell growth. Giving imatinib mesylate together with chemotherapy and peripheral stem cell transplantation may be an effective treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which chemotherapy regimen is more effective when combined with radiation therapy for treating medulloblastoma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare two combination chemotherapy treatments plus radiation therapy in treating children with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow doctors to give higher doses of chemotherapy and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating children who have recurrent or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 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. Combination chemotherapy plus surgery may be an effective treatment for neuroblastoma. PURPOSE: This phase III trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy followed by surgery works in treating young patients with neuroblastoma. Read Less