Clinical Trials

This phase II trial tests the effect of giving pembrolizumab in combination with radiation therapy after chemotherapy in preventing surgery to remove the bladder in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. Standard of care therapy includes chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) to shrink or get rid of the tumor. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Photon beam radiation therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses x-rays or gamma rays that come from a special machine called a linear accelerator. The radiation dose is delivered at the surface of the body and goes into the tumor and through the body. Giving pembrolizumab in combination with radiation therapy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy may help prevent surgical removal of the bladder in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer.

This phase II/III trial examines whether patients who have undergone surgical removal of bladder, kidney, ureter or urethra, but require an additional treatment called immunotherapy to help prevent their urinary tract (urothelial) cancer from coming back, can be identified by a blood test. Many types of tumors tend to lose cells or release different types of cellular products including their DNA which is referred to as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) into the bloodstream before changes can be seen on scans. Health care providers can measure the level of ctDNA in blood or other bodily fluids to determine which patients are at higher risk for disease progression or relapse. In this study, a blood test is used to measure ctDNA and see if there is still cancer somewhere in the body after surgery and if giving a treatment will help eliminate the cancer. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab and relatlimab, can help the body's immune system to attack the cancer, and can interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. This trial may help doctors determine if ctDNA measurement in blood can better identify patients that need additional treatment, if treatment with nivolumab prolongs patients' life and whether the additional immunotherapy treatment with relatlimab extends time without disease progression or prolongs life of urothelial cancer patients who have undergone surgical removal of their bladder, kidney, ureter or urethra.

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and anti-tumor activity of GEN3017 as a monotherapy in participants with relapsed or refractory (R/R) CD30-expressing lymphomas.  GEN3017 will be administered via subcutaneous injections.  All participants will receive active drug; no one will be given placebo.

This phase IV trial tests the impact of standard of care enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab followed by removal of all or part of the bladder (cytoreductive cystectomy) and/or removal of all or part of the tube that carriers urine from the kidneys to the bladder (ureterectomy) on outcomes in patients with bladder and upper urothelial tract that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Enfortumab vedotin is a monoclonal antibody, enfortumab, linked to an anticancer drug called vedotin. It works by helping the immune system to slow or stop the growth of tumor cells. Enfortumab attaches to a protein called nectin-4 on tumor cells in a targeted way and delivers vedotin to kill them. It is a type of antibody-drug conjugate. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving standard of care enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab followed by cytoreductive cystectomy and/or ureterectomy (CC/U) may improve outcomes in patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder or upper urothelial tract cancer.

This phase II trial tests how well Reishi mushroom extract works in treating fatigue and/or joint/muscle pain (arthralgias/myalgias) in patients with breast cancer on aromatase inhibitors. Fatigue and arthralgias/myalgias are common symptoms in breast cancer patients taking aromatase inhibitors (AI). Given the long duration of AI treatment for some women (up to 10 years), these symptoms can significantly impact quality of life and premature discontinuation of AIs, a beneficial medication. Reishi mushrooms are among several medicinal mushrooms that have been used for hundreds of years, mainly in Asian countries, to help enhance the immune system, reduce stress, improve sleep, and lessen fatigue. Reishi mushroom extracts have not been studied explicitly for treatment-induced arthralgias/myalgias, but have been shown to improve quality of life, muscular strength, pain, and flexibility. Information from this study may help researchers determine the effect of Reishi mushroom extract on fatigue and arthralgias/myalgias in breast cancer patients receiving an AI.

The aims of this study are to increase the number of Black consultants at MCA, make a meaningful impact on interactions among staff, leadership, and patients, and increase the number of Black staff in leadership roles beyond Diversity and Inclusion efforts.

The purpose of this study is to compare standard chemotherapy to therapy with CPX-351 and/or gilteritinib for patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia with or without FLT3 mutations. 

The purpose of this study is to employ mixed methods approach to develop a prostate cancer survivorship care plan (CaP-SCP) tailored to US-born Black men (USbBM), Caribbean-born BM (CBBM) and African-born BM (ABBM) using clinicians’ key informant interviews and survey of CaP Black survivors and to develop a prototype of the digitalized CaP-SCP that integrates quantitative clinical, patient reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and population level data to assess the sensitivity and preliminary impact of the digitalized CaP-SCP  on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) using community engagement research and behavioral precision medicine.

Augmented reality (AR) immersive technology in healthcare delivers unprecedented, intuitive, realistic visualization and interaction experience for patients in a synthetic and integrated fashion. AR can help patients to manage emotions, pain, combat anxiety or fears, and make better decisions. Combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI), with benefits of accurate machine-learning models, we propose to develop an integrated AI and AR technology Prostate Cancer (CaP) Survivorship Care Plan.

The digitalized CaP-SCP development will be led by the iCCaRE consortium’s Digital Health & Human Services core. They will develop a mobile app that integrates SDOH navigation, standard CaP psycho-oncology support and emotional support. The app’s content will be delivered through AI predictive analytic and recommender system and will be based on the previously conducted interviews and focus groups. 

The digitalized CaP-SRP when used by a patient, will present the following features: 
• A series of short survey questions, which is used by the AI model to predict or recommend a specific intervention(s), educative material(s), or AR interactions with personal CaP survival stories; 
• SDOH navigation that will appropriately connect them with relevant support services and resources in their communities; 
• An emotional support intervention that can establish an empathic rapport with a CaP survivor’s sharing of his story. This will be programmed based on one of the iCCaRe Consortium’s consumer advocates; 
• The psycho-oncology support will be programmed to provide psychoeducation about the PPCD experience, reify and concretize the PPCD experience, and foster hope; 
• Patients can choose to ignore the personalized recommendations and select from a drop-down menu list of contents. 

The app is expected to be downloaded to their mobile smartphone for introduction in the clinical setting and more in-depth use at home. The survivorship care plan can be taken with participants to follow-up appointments for reminders and updates to treatments. We anticipate participants acclimating to the app for approximately 30 minutes in the clinic

The present study is an open-label, randomized, controlled, two-arm multi-center study of the efficacy of L19TNF treatment in combination with doxorubicin versus doxorubicin alone in metastatic or unresectable soft-tissue sarcoma patients. In the study, 122 patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive doxorubicin treatment (Arm 1) or L19TNF treatment in combination with doxorubicin (Arm 2). The primary objective of the trial is to evaluate if L19TNF in combination with doxorubicin (Arm 2) given for unresectable or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma improves efficacy measured as progression free survival, as compared to doxorubicin alone (Arm 1). Anti-cancer activity will be assessed every 6 weeks during therapy and every 12 weeks thereafter.

This study is being done to answer the following questions:

Can we lower the chance of your gastric cancer from growing or spreading by administering paclitaxel chemotherapy directly into your abdominal cavity in addition to chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm? Will administering paclitaxel chemotherapy directly into your abdominal cavity, in addition to chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm help you live longer? We are doing this study because we want to find out if this approach is better or worse than the usual approach for your gastric cancer. The usual approach is defined as care most people get for gastric cancer.

If you decide to take part in this study, you will first receive a surgical procedure called a diagnostic laparoscopy. This will help the study doctors learn more about your gastric cancer. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgery for which you will be placed under general anesthesia. Then the surgeon will make small incisions (5mm) on your belly through which a camera and thin instruments are introduced to evaluate the abdomen. This procedure takes about 1 hour to complete. Your study group will be assigned during the surgery. The study groups are described further in the 'What are the study groups?' section below.

If you are placed into the study group 1, you will not have an intraperitoneal port (a small device which is placed under the skin and fat of your upper abdomen and a tube that is placed into the abdomen).

If you are placed into the study group 2, you will have an intraperitoneal port placed. The reason is that in addition to standard chemotherapy, which is given through a vein in your arm, this port will be used to deliver the medication paclitaxel directly inside your abdomen when you are ready to start study treatment.

It is important to know that you will not know your study group until after the surgery is over. This is because information that is learned during the surgery will help determine which study group you are put in.

Once you have fully healed from this surgery, you will start study treatment. Depending on which study group you are assigned, you will either receive a standard chemotherapy regimen (the regimen will be chosen by you and your doctor) if you are in study group 1, or paclitaxel through a tube in your belly plus chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm if you are in study group 2. All participants will get treatment for three (3) months after which you will undergo reevaluation. If the disease is under control or responding to treatment, you may continue the assigned treatment until your disease gets worse, the side effects become too severe, or you may be offered a surgical procedure to remove the cancer if the amount of disease is low and can be completely removed as determined by a surgeon.

There is a very small chance that during the laparoscopy surgical procedure, the doctor might find something called "intra-abdominal adhesions". These are areas where the stomach has healed previously and created scar tissue. If this scar tissue prevents the surgeon from being able to place a port in the correct area, you would be ineligible to receive the study treatment. If this happens, you may still receive standard of care therapy after your surgery, but you will not be able to continue on the study. If you have more questions about this, you can ask your surgeon or the study team to help.

After you finish your study treatment, your doctor or study team will watch you for side effects. They will continue to follow your condition every three (3) months during the first two (2) years, then every six (6) months until year 5. You may be reevaluated with Chest/Abdomen/Pelvis scans every three-six (3-6) months for up to five (5) years if decided by your doctor.