Paclitaxel Treatment Options in New Jersey

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Estrogen can stimulate the growth of tumor cells. Hormone therapy using tamoxifen and megestrol may fight endometrial cancer by blocking the absorption of estrogen. It is not yet known whether chemotherapy is more effective than hormone therapy in treating endometrial cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with that of hormone therapy in treating patients who have recurrent, stage III, or stage IV endometrial cancer. 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. It is not yet known if surgery plus combination chemotherapy is more effective than surgery alone for non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of surgery with or without combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without filgrastim in treating breast cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combining doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel with or without filgrastim in treating women who have inflammatory or locally advanced breast cancer. Read Less

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of gossypol when given together with paclitaxel and carboplatin in treating patients with solid tumors that are metastatic or cannot be removed by surgery. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gossypol, paclitaxel, and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving gossypol together with paclitaxel and carboplatin may kill more tumor cells Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Paclitaxel and cisplatin may increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy by making the tumor cells more sensitive to the radiation. 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. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of paclitaxel when given with radiation therapy and cisplatin and to see how well they work in treating patients with cancer of the cervix that has spread to the lymph nodes in the pelvis and abdomen. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with a monoclonal antibody may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether cetuximab is more effective when given at the same time as chemotherapy or following chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well giving cetuximab at the same time as combination chemotherapy works compared to giving cetuximab after combination chemotherapy in treating patients with stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

This will be the first prospective study where patients will be selected on the basis of two measures of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway. The study will assess prospectively the efficacy of erlotinib as a single agent or intercalated with chemotherapy in highly selected patients with EGFR overexpression and/or EGFR amplification. Read Less

To estimate the antitumor activity of paclitaxel, carboplatin, plus BSI-201 in patients with recurrent or advanced uterine carcinosarcomas. Based on data generated by BiPar/Sanofi, it is concluded that iniparib does not possess characteristics typical of the PARP inhibitor class. The exact mechanism has not yet been fully elucidated, however based on experiments on tumor cells performed in the laboratory, iniparib is a novel investigational anti-cancer agent that induces gamma-H2AX (a marker of DNA damage) in tumor cell lines, induces cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase in tumor cell lines, and potentiates the cell cycle effects of DNA damaging modalities in tumor cell lines. Investigations into potential targets of iniparib and its metabolites are ongoing. Read Less

This study evaluates the use of Targretin capsules (bexarotene) in combination with standard chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in patients who have not yet received chemotherapy for their lung cancer. 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. It is not yet known if paclitaxel is more effective with or without gemcitabine for advanced breast cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to study the effectiveness of paclitaxel with or without gemcitabine in treating women who have advanced breast cancer. Read Less

This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of lapatinib in combination with chemotherapy (capecitabine, docetaxel, nab-paclitaxel) in subjects with ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer whose disease has progressed during or within 12 months after completion of trastuzumab-containing therapy in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting. 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