Vaccines Treatment Options in New York

RATIONALE: Interleukin-2 may stimulate a person's white blood cells including natural killer cells to kill prostate cancer cells. Interferon gamma may interfere with the growth of the cancer cells. Combining interferon gamma with interleukin-2 may be a more effective treatment for prostate cancer. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of biological therapy using interleukin-2 and interferon gamma in treating patients with advanced prostate cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's cancer cells may make the body build an immune response to kill the tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer. Read Less

The primary objective of this phase 3b study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of Novartis MenACWY conjugate vaccine when administered with routine infant vaccinations to healthy infants Read Less

Seasonal influenza (flu) is a significant and sometimes serious health issue in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that over 200,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S each year related to the flu. Public health campaigns advocate widespread vaccination for the flu, and especially for high risk people. People with cancer are high risk, with an increased risk of developing complications from the flu, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, or worsening of other medical conditions. As part of their vaccination campaign, the CDC strongly encourages inpatients to be vaccinated prior to hospital discharge. Accordingly, Stony Brook Hospital has enacted a policy that mandates screening all hospital inpatients for vaccination prior to discharge. While physicians or patients can opt not to vaccinate, the default is to proceed. Surgical oncologists have several concerns about vaccinating their patients after major surgical procedures. Patients with cancer have impaired immunity, and the ability of our patients to mount an effective immune response to the vaccine is unclear. Conversely, due to their immunocompromised state, our patients may be more susceptible to complications from the vaccine, such as influenza-like-illness (ILI), or have higher rates of postoperative complications due to the additional immune challenge of the vaccine. Previous studies have evaluated the flu vaccine in patients receiving chemotherapy, or after organ transplantation, but the combination of cancer and major surgery remains unstudied. This is a collaborative study with Infectious Diseases and Microbiology to evaluate the response to the flu vaccine in patients with pancreatic or gastric cancer, soft tissue sarcoma or peritoneal surface disease (i.e. carcinomatosis from appendiceal or colon cancers). Patients will be randomly selected to receive the vaccine either 2 weeks preoperatively or postoperatively at the time of discharge. Serum antibody response, rates of ILI and post-op complications will be analyzed. The long term goal of this study is two-fold: to determine the optimal time to vaccinate this group of patients in relation to their surgery, and to improve compliance with vaccination. Read Less

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from tumor tissue may make the body build an immune response and kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV ovarian epithelial cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from DNA may make the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of vaccine therapy in treating patients with stage IIB, stage IIC, stage III, or stage IV melanoma. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and immune response to a investigational DNA Plasmid HIV vaccine, ADVAX e/g + ADVAX p/n-t (ADVAX), at three different dosage levels, in adults who are not infected with HIV. Read Less

Randomized phase I trial to compare the effectiveness of two different vaccines given directly into the tumor in treating patients who have metastatic solid tumors. Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Infusing the vaccine directly into a tumor may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which vaccine may be more effective in treating metastatic solid tumors Read Less

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Combining monoclonal antibody A1G4 with BCG may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody A1G4 plus BCG in treating patients with cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine (13vPnC) compare to the 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine (7vPnC) and to compare the immune response to concomitant vaccines administered with 13vPnC and 7vPnC. Read Less

This randomized, parallel-group, open-label study will evaluate the effect of Actemra (tocilizumab) on vaccination in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who have an inadequate response to methotrexate and who have had an inadequate clinical response or were intolerant to treatment with one or more anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies. Read Less

The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of Fluzone High Dose vaccine and that of Fluzone® vaccine in the elderly. Primary objective: To measure the efficacy of the vaccine, defined as the prevention of laboratory-confirmed influenza caused by viral types/subtypes that are antigenically similar to those contained in the respective annual vaccine formulations. Secondary objectives: * To compare the clinical efficacy of Fluzone High Dose vaccine with that of Fluzone® vaccine in elderly adults, with respect to laboratory-confirmed influenza illness caused by any type or subtype of influenza virus. * To compare the clinical efficacy of Fluzone High Dose vaccine with that of Fluzone® vaccine in elderly adults, in preventing culture-confirmed influenza illness caused by viral types/subtypes antigenically similar to those contained in the respective annual vaccine formulations. Read Less