Clinical Trials Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

This phase II trial compares the effect of usual treatment of docetaxel chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, to ado-emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with HER2-positive salivary gland cancer that has come back (recurrent), that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body, or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Trastuzumab is a form of targeted therapy because it works by attaching itself to specific molecules (receptors) on the surface of cancer cells, known as HER2 receptors. When trastuzumab attaches to HER2 receptors, the signals that tell the cells to grow are blocked and the cancer cell may be marked for destruction by body's immune system. Trastuzumab emtansine contains trastuzumab, linked to a chemotherapy drug called emtansine. Trastuzumab attaches to HER2 positive cancer cells in a targeted way and delivers emtansine to kill them. Docetaxel is in a class of medications called taxanes. It stops cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Trastuzumab emtansine may work better compared to usual treatment of chemotherapy with docetaxel and trastuzumab in treating patients with recurrent, metastatic or unresectable salivary gland cancer.

This phase III trial compares the effect of selumetinib versus the standard of care treatment with carboplatin and vincristine (CV) in treating patients with newly diagnosed or previously untreated low-grade glioma (LGG) that does not have a genetic abnormality called BRAFV600E mutation and is not associated with systemic neurofibromatosis type 1. Selumetinib works by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and may kill tumor cells. Carboplatin and vincristine are chemotherapy drugs that work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. The overall goal of this study is to see if selumetinib works just as well as the standard treatment of CV for patients with LGG. Another goal of this study is to compare the effects of selumetinib versus CV in subjects with LGG to find out which is better. Additionally, this trial will also examine if treatment with selumetinib improves the quality of life for subjects who take it.