Clinical Trials Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

This phase II trial tests whether using genetic testing of tumor tissue to select the optimal treatment regimen works in treating patients with clear cell renal cell (kidney) cancer that has spread to other places in the body (advanced or metastatic). The current Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved regimens for advanced kidney cancer fall into two categories. One treatment combination includes two immunotherapy drugs (nivolumab plus ipilimumab), which are delivered by separate intravenous infusions into a vein. The other combination is one immunotherapy drug (nivolumab infusion) plus an oral pill taken by mouth (cabozantinib). Nivolumab and ipilimumab are immunotherapies which release the brakes of the immune system, thus allowing the patient's own immune system to better kill cancer cells. Cabozantinib is a targeted therapy specifically designed to block certain biological mechanisms needed for growth of cancer cells. In kidney cancer, cabozantinib blocks a tumors blood supply. The genetic (DNA) makeup of the tumor may affect how well it responds to therapy. Testing the makeup (genes) of the tumor, may help match a treatment (from one of the above two treatment options) to the specific cancer and increase the chance that the disease will respond to treatment. The purpose of this study is to learn if genetic testing of tumor tissue may help doctors select the optimal treatment regimen to which advanced kidney cancer is more likely to respond.

This phase II trial tests how well itacitinib works in in patients with immune related adverse events (irAEs) arising from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) that do not respond to steroids (steroid refractory). Steroids are the usual treatment for these side effects. However, sometimes steroids do not improve or fix the side effects. Giving itacitinib may be effective in treating patients with known or suspected problems coming from ICIs, that do not resolve or improve with steroids, by reducing the patient's immune system response that can cause the irAEs.

This phase II clinical trial tests how well rigosertib plus pembrolizumab workings in treating patients with melanoma which cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic), and that has not responded to previous treatment with PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors (refractory). Rigosertib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and may change the immune system to make immunotherapy more effective. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving rigosertib in combination with pembrolizumab may be more effective in treating patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma that has not responded to previous treatment with PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors than giving either drug alone.

This phase II trial tests how well pB1-11 and human papillomavirus tumor antigen (TA-HPV) vaccines in combination with pembrolizumab work in treating patients with oropharyngeal cancer that has come back (recurrent) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic) and that is PD-L1 and human papillomavirus (HPV) positive. Oropharyngeal cancer is a type of head and neck cancer involving structures in the back of the throat (the oropharynx), such as the non-bony back roof of the mouth (soft palate), sides and back wall of the throat, tonsils, and back third of the tongue. Scientists have found that some strains or types of a virus called HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer. pBI-11 is a circular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (plasmid) vaccine that promotes antibody, cytotoxic T cell, and protective immune responses. TA-HPV is an investigational recombinant vaccina virus derived from a strain of the vaccina virus which was widely used for smallpox vaccination. Vaccination with this TA-HPV vaccine may stimulate the immune system to mount a cytotoxic T cell response against tumor cells positive for HPV, resulting in decreased tumor growth. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread by inhibiting the PD-1 receptor. These investigational vaccines could cause or enhance an immune response in the body against HPV, during which time the activity of pembrolizumab against oropharyngeal cancer associated with HPV may be strengthened. These drugs in combination may be more effective in increasing the ability of the immune system to fight oropharyngeal cancer than pembrolizumab alone.

This phase II trial tests how well decitabine and cedazuridine (DEC-C) works in combination with venetoclax in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients whose AML has come back after a period of improvement (relapse) after a donor stem cell transplant. Cedazuridine is in a class of medications called cytidine deaminase inhibitors. It prevents the breakdown of decitabine, making it more available in the body so that decitabine will have a greater effect. Decitabine is in a class of medications called hypomethylation agents. It works by helping the bone marrow produce normal blood cells and by killing abnormal cells in the bone marrow. Venetoclax is in a class of medications called B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) inhibitors. It may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking Bcl-2, a protein needed for cancer cell survival. Giving DEC-C in combination with venetoclax may kill more cancer cells in patients with relapsed AML.

This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab after standard treatment with radiation plus the following chemotherapy drugs: cisplatin or carboplatin, plus etoposide works in treating patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving pembrolizumab after standard treatment with radiation plus chemotherapy may increase the ability of the immune system to fight LS-SCLC.

Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) will be used in an open label, single agent, multicenter,
study for patients with neuroblastoma in remission. In this study subjects will receive 730
Days of oral difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) at a dose of 750 mg/m2 250 mg/m2 BID (strata 1,
2, 3, and 4) OR 2500 mg/m2 BID (stratum 1B) on each day of study. This study will focus on
the use of DFMO in high risk neuroblastoma patients that are in remission as a strategy to
prevent recurrence.

This phase II Pediatric MATCH trial studies how well ensartinib works in treating patients with solid tumors, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or histiocytic disorders with ALK or ROS1 genomic alterations that have come back (recurrent) or does not respond to treatment (refractory) and may have spread from where it first started to nearby tissue, lymph nodes, or distant parts of the body (advanced). Ensartinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.

This trial studies the side effects of enasidenib and to see how well it works in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia that has come back after treatment (relapsed) or has been difficult to treat with chemotherapy (refractory). Patients must also have a specific genetic change, also called a mutation, in a protein called IDH2. Enasidenib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the mutated IDH2 protein, which is needed for cell growth.

Randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 study of INBRX-109 in unresectable or
metastatic conventional chondrosarcoma patients.