Dexamethasone Treatment Options in Pittsburgh, PA

RATIONALE: Combining calcitriol with dexamethasone may increase the effectiveness of therapy by making cancer cells more sensitive to dexamethasone. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of calcitriol combined with dexamethasone in treating patients who have prostate cancer that has not responded to previous hormone therapy. 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 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

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. Bone marrow transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy and kill more cancer cells. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, and radiation therapy in treating infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to compare the progression-free survival (PFS) of the combination of trabectedin + DOXIL with DOXIL monotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of siltuximab in participants with relapsed (the return of a disease or the signs and symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement.) or refractory (cancer that does not respond to treatment) multiple myeloma (a type of cancer that begins in plasma cells \[white blood cells that produce antibodies\]). 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 work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: Phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating children who have newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving the drugs in different combinations may kill more cancer cells. Bone marrow transplantation allows the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without donor bone marrow transplantation in treating infants who have previously untreated acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

This study will compare treatment with 3 courses of high-dose dexamethasone versus treatment with prednisone, for patients recently diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The primary hypothesis is that patients treated with high-dose dexamethasone will obtain a more durable remission than patients treated with prednisone. 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 giving the drugs in different combinations may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of standard combination chemotherapy treatment with more intensive combination chemotherapy in treating children with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Read Less