Dexamethasone Treatment Options in Kansas

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with bone marrow 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 combination chemotherapy with or without bone marrow transplantation in treating patients who have acute lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Thalidomide may stop the growth of tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. It is not yet known if combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without thalidomide for multiple myeloma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without thalidomide in treating patients who have refractory multiple myeloma. 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), and giving the drugs in different combinations may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy works in treating patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy and kill more tumor cells. Interferon alfa may interfere with the growth of the cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of high-dose melphalan plus peripheral stem cell transplantation followed by interferon alfa in treating patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Sometimes the cancer may not need treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. Giving combination chemotherapy together with bortezomib, thalidomide, and rituximab before an autologous peripheral stem cell transplant stops the growth of cancer cells by stopping them from dividing or killing them. Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as G-CSF, helps stem cells move from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected and stored. More chemotherapy is then given to prepare the bone marrow for the stem cell transplant. The stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This observational and phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with bortezomib, thalidomide, and rituximab followed by two autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplants works in treating patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. Read Less

This is a Phase 1/2 study evaluating the safety and anti-tumor activity of PD 0332991 in combination with Velcade® \[bortezomib\] and dexamethasone in patients who have received at least one previous treatment for multiple myeloma. Read Less

This phase II trial is studying how well giving bortezomib together with liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride, dexamethasone, and cyclophosphamide works in treating patients with multiple myeloma that relapsed after autologous 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 liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride, dexamethasone, and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving bortezomib together with liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride, dexamethasone, and cyclophosphamide may kill more cancer cells. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating children who have newly diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug and combining drugs in different ways may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of chemotherapy in treating children who have very high risk acute lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Thalidomide may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Combining dexamethasone and thalidomide may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known whether dexamethasone is more effective with or without thalidomide in treating multiple myeloma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of dexamethasone with or without thalidomide in treating patients who have multiple myeloma. Read Less

This is a randomized, open label, multicenter clinical trial to compare the efficacy and safety of Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone versus Velcade, thalidomide, and dexamethasone versus Velcade, melphalan, and prednisone in patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma not considered candidates for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or acute lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less