Dexamethasone Treatment Options in Ohio

RATIONALE: Gabapentin may prevent or reduce delayed nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. It is not yet known whether gabapentin is more effective than a placebo in preventing nausea and vomiting. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying the side effects of gabapentin and to see how well it works compared with a placebo in preventing nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy. Read Less

The investigators will test the hypotheses that mild hypercapnia and supplemental oxygen reduce wound infection risk in patients undergoing colon resection. The investigators will simultaneously test the hypothesis that low-dose dexamethasone (a common treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting) does not increase infection risk. Read Less

This phase I trial studies the side effects and the safety of injecting HSV1716 (a new experimental therapy) into or near the tumor resection cavity. The injection will be done at the time of surgery. HSV1716 is a virus that has a gene which has been changed or removed (mutated) in such a way that lets the virus multiply in dividing cells of the tumor and kills the tumor cells. Read Less

This is a multicenter, open-label, dose escalation Phase 1 study. Read Less

The investigators hypothesize that preoperative administration of 8 mg IV dexamethasone will benefit patients' perceived quality of recovery after surgery. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine the maximum tolerated dose and effectiveness of the study drug (CC-4047) Alone Or in Combination With Low-dose Dexamethasone as treatment for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma 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

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radioactive substances such as strontium-89 may relieve bone pain associated with prostate cancer. It is not yet known whether chemotherapy is more effective with or without strontium-89 in treating bone metastases. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying giving chemotherapy together with strontium-89 to see how well it works compared to chemotherapy alone in treating patients with prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. Read Less

The purpose of this network is to accelerate research in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by comparing novel therapies to existing ones. Read Less

Patients undergoing rotator cuff repair or subacromial decompression at the investigators institution are frequently hospitalized overnight due to inadequate pain relief after resolution of interscalene brachial plexus blocks. For ropivacaine 0.5%, the investigators usual local anesthetic, previous studies report an analgesic duration of 11.1 ± 5 hours without epinephrine and approximately 12 hours with epinephrine. Consequently, a method of prolonging analgesia from a brachial plexus block without the extra equipment and logistical difficulties of indwelling catheters would benefit both patients and caregivers. A potential approach is use of adjuvant drugs that prolong block duration when added to the local anesthetic. In addition to the usual adjuvant anesthetic drugs, investigators have begun to evaluate glucocorticoids as adjuvants for regional anesthesia. Known for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, immunosuppressive, and antiemetic properties, these corticosteroids exert their effects by inhibition of phospholipase A2 as well as changes in cell function induced by glucocorticoid receptor activation. Although associated with significant toxicity when administered in large doses for long periods, emerging literature suggests that a single perioperative dose of glucocorticoid is safe. Several studies, including a recent trial at the investigators institution, have demonstrated the efficacy of dexamethasone in prolonging regional anesthetics. Available data thus suggest that combining glucocorticoids with local anesthetics prolongs block duration. However, systemic glucocorticoids have also been shown to reduce postoperative pain. This raises the question whether the beneficial effects of adding glucocorticoid to a regional anesthetic is solely due to local effect or is mediated at least in part by systemic action. Previous trials, however, have not addressed this important issue. If this beneficial effect of analgesic duration is mediated by systemic action, adding dexamethasone to the local anesthetic mixture may be unnecessary. Although no study has reported neurotoxicity from perineural dexamethasone and laboratory data appear to confirm the safety of this route, achieving similar results with more conventional administration would be desirable for two reasons. First, conventional intravenous dosing is convenient, useful for other reasons (for example, postoperative nausea prophylaxis), and well-studied. Second, equivalent (or not equivalent) results from systemic dosing would provide valuable information about the mechanism behind dexamethasone's effect on block duration. Read Less

RATIONALE: Antiemetic drugs, such as granisetron, dexamethasone, prochlorperazine, aprepitant, and palonosetron, may help lessen or prevent nausea. It is not yet known which combination of antiemetic drugs is more effective in preventing nausea caused by chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing different combinations of granisetron, dexamethasone, prochlorperazine, aprepitant, and palonosetron to see how well they work in preventing nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Read Less

To compare the efficacy of combination oral thalidomide plus oral dexamethasone treatment to that of oral dexamethasone-alone treatments as induction (first-line) therapy for subjects with active multiple myeloma Read Less