The purpose of this study is to prospectively collect specimens from pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or brainstem glioma, either during therapy or at autopsy, in order to characterize the molecular abnormalities of this tumor.
This study will prospectively characterize the molecular, cellular and genetic properties of primary and metastatic neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, retinoblastoma, Ewing sarcoma family of tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, adrenocortical tumors and liver malignancies. These cell isolates will be used for gene expression array analysis, genomic analysis by [SNP] single nucleotide polymorphism chip, array [CGH] comparative genomic hybridization and next generation sequencing, and [TEM] transmission electron microscopy analysis. Additionally cell lines and orthotopic xenografts will be created from the obtained tumor specimens. The specificity of TCRs will be examined by comparing paired...
This is a multi-center, multinational phase 2 trial that aims to explore the use of molecular and clinical risk-directed therapy in treatment of children 0-4.99 years of age with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma.
The purpose of this retrospective and prospective project is to understand the molecular and genetic basis of liver cancer of childhood. Understanding the molecular and genetic bases of liver cancers can offer a better classification based on tumor biology, mechanisms and predisposition.
The purpose of this study is to find out the genetic and biochemical makeup of your neuroblastic tumor, which influences its aggressiveness and the suitable therapy. These research studies include surface marker analysis, cytogenetics, cancer genes,genome sequencing, tumor growth-related genes and tumor growth in test tubes. Your blood, marrow, and hematopoietic stem cell samples will also be tested for tumors or leukemia cells, and your serum tested for anti-tumor antibodies.
Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive and malignant form of brain cancer that arises from the glial cells of the brain. It is the most common and deadliest type of primary brain tumor in adults, with a very poor prognosis and a low survival rate. Glioblastoma is characterized by rapid and uncontrolled growth, infiltrative invasion into surrounding brain tissue, and resistance to standard treatments. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are highly needed. A subpopulation of fibroblasts called "cancer-associated fibroblasts" (CAFs) is know to be a key constituent of tumor stroma in several non-CNS tumors (e.g., breast, colon, lung,ovarian, or pancreatic cancers) . These CAFs express...
This is a patient oriented translational research project aiming to improve clinical outcomes for patients with BRAF and NRAS wild-type unresectable Stage III or Stage IV metastatic melanoma who have progressed on, or are unable to receive standard therapy (in general, immunotherapy). Consecutive patients seen at three major clinics and fitting the broad eligibility criteria will be invited to participate. The approach is designed to test the impact of different targeted drugs on different mutations in a single type of cancer. In this project, patients will have tumour tissue genetically profiled to determine which mutation(s) are present, and will then be assigned to receive a...
This study performs standardized testing of tumor tissue samples to learn which genes are mutated (have changed) in order to provide personalized cancer therapy options to cancer patients at MD Anderson. This may help doctors use testing information on tumors to identify clinical trials that may be most relevant to patients. Researchers may also use the information learned from this study to develop a database of the different kinds of mutations in cancer-related genes.
This trial studies how well MoleMapper, Visiomed, and confocal microscopy work in screening participants for melanoma. Analyzing images (photographs) made with three different portable imaging systems may be as good as a visit to a dermatologist's office for finding melanomas before they can spread.
The researchers doing this study think that performing scans of the brain and testing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in people with HER2-positive breast cancer may be an effective way of identifying the early onset of CNS metastases (such as brain cancer). If the researchers can identify the early onset of CNS metastases, they can immediately treat that cancer and possibly prevent it from worsening. Currently, people with breast cancer don't usually have scans of the brain or CSF testing unless they are experiencing symptoms of CNS metastases.