Clinical trials

This clinical trial is designed with two treatment stages: Stage 1: one cycle of study drug treatment prior to initiation of first-line standard radiation in all study participants. Stage 2: two additional cycles of study drug treatment (8 weeks total) concomitantly with standard of care radiation (\~6 weeks) for participants with pathology-confirmed MGMT (enzyme O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) unmethylated GBM only. The co-primary endpoints of the study are 1) feasibility of completing Stage 1 of treatment prior to radiation in all study participants and starting radiation within 6 weeks, and 2) safety of study drug across both treatment parts. The investigators will additionally evaluate the radiographic response rate after the first cycle of drug in all patients based upon RANO 2.0 (Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology) criteria as well as safety of study drug in all patients (secondary endpoints). Exploratory endpoints will include characterization of ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and FAK (Focal adhesion kinase) dependence in pre-treatment tissue (by immunohistochemistry and/or 'omics) and correlation of expression and co-mutations with response and survival. A total of up to 22 evaluable patients can be enrolled in this study. Evaluable patients are those who have received at least one dose of study drug treatment. Patients who do not start drug will be replaced, up to a total of 28 patients.

This research is being done to test the feasibility of 24-48 hours of water-only fasting to improve delivery of 4 cycles of chemotherapy in those receiving breast cancer treatment either before or after surgery.

This research is being done to find out if the study drug, 177Lu-PSMA-617, given before and during standard of care External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) treatment, with a shorter course of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) (6 months) is (1) safe and effective compared to standard of care alone, and (2) can reduce the side effects caused by long-term (24 months) ADT in men with high risk localized prostate cancer.

This research is being done to collect and store biological specimens (biospecimens) from people with cancer, regardless of tumor type, who are receiving treatments known or thought to have an effect on the immune system. The goal of this discovery and exploratory study is to: * Understand changes in the immune system associated with various cancer treatments, in order to better design new therapies or tests to predict how these treatments might work. * Identify risk factors for those who go on to develop side effects from immunotherapy. * Identify the molecular features associated with response and resistance to cancer therapies and immunotherapy using integrative genomic and immune repertoire characterization. * Capture and characterize systemic tumor burden by minimally invasive analyses of circulating tumor DNA. Participants may be asked to: * Donate samples of tumor, blood, lymph nodes, white blood cells, mouth cells (buccal smears) scraped from the inside of participant's cheek, urine, saliva, or other tissue samples. * Complete questionnaires about immunotherapy side effects at baseline and with follow-up appointments. * Undergo knee x-rays. * Allow the use of demographic and clinical information.

Phase 1b study evaluating the efficacy and immune response to a synthetic long peptide mutant KRAS vaccine (SPL mKRASvax) combined with Balstilimab and Botensilimab for unresectable or metastatic mismatch repair-proficient (MMR-p) colorectal cancer (mCRC) or unresectable or metastatic MMR-p pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients with measurable disease following first-line chemotherapy.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and clinical activity of combining DCSZ11 with radiation and capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) for the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) high risk locally advanced rectal cancer.

This is a pilot study to gather information about safety and efficacy of using ruxolitinib (RUX) to treat Immune Effector Cell Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis-like Syndrome (IEC-HS) occurring after CAR-T therapy. In addition, correlative studies will be done to 1) estimate the optimal duration of RUX therapy, 2) to identify immunological biomarkers associated with response (3) To evaluate the dynamics of CAR T expansion following RUX treatment. Oral RUX will be administered twice daily, with dosing determined by the participant's baseline platelet count. Treatment will continue for up to 8 weeks unless significant adverse events occur or the treating physician concludes that the therapy is no longer providing clinical benefit. The study expects to accrue 16 evaluable patients diagnosed with IEC-HS over 2 years.

This Phase 1 clinical trial will test a new drug called \[18F\]DK222 in people with cancer. The goal is to see if the drug is safe, how it spreads through the body, how long it stays in the body, and how much radiation it gives off. \[18F\]DK222 is designed to attach strongly and specifically to a protein called PD-L1, which helps cancer hide from the immune system. This is a first in human study to collect preliminary safety and toxicity data of \[18F\]DK222.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of a cancer peptide vaccine to prevent or delay acquired resistance in advanced ALK+ lung cancer patients currently on ALK targeted therapy.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and clinical activity of combining cemiplimab, cemiplimab/fianlimab, or cemiplimab/REGN7075 with capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) for the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) locally advanced rectal cancer (T2 node-positive, T3 node-negative, T3 node-positive).

This study is being done to determine if the investigational radiotracer called 111In-XYIMSR-01 is helpful in detecting clear cell renal cell carcinoma tissue in your body when used during a SPECT-CT Scan

Asymptomatic men without pain due to prostate cancer progressing with metastatic CRPC after treatment with combination or sequential ADT + Abi will be treated on a randomized, open label study to determine if sequential treatment with high dose T and Enza will improve primary and secondary objectives vs. continuous Enza as standard therapy.

This study is designed for children, adolescents and young adults undergoing radiation therapy for metastatic sarcoma. The aim of the study is to investigate if the investigators can improve the overall survival of these patients by targeting metastatic sites with radiation.

A Feasibility Trial of PVX7 vaccine in advanced cervical cancer patients who have completed primary definitive therapy.

This research is being done to test the safety and feasibility of an investigational DNA vaccine called pBI-11 and to find out what effects, if any, it has on women with persistent human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16+) and/or human papillomavirus (HPV18+) cervical infection. The DNA vaccine is designed to promote an immune response to treat disease caused by HPV types 16 and 18, viruses that can cause cervical cancer. The pBI-11 DNA vaccine or a placebo will be administered intramuscularly using the TriGridTM Delivery System.

The primary goal of this phase I open label study is to determine the safety and tolerability of pNGVL4aCRTE6E7L2 DNA vaccine, as administered by intramuscular (IM) injection with TriGrid™ electroporation to both HIV- or HIV+ adult female subjects (≥ 19 years), with biopsy confirmed cervical intraepithelial (CIN) II or III that is human papillomavirus (HPV) 16+.

This is a single-center, prospective, single-arm study evaluating the safety and feasibility of total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) in carefully selected adult patients with periampullary neoplasms who are considered at high risk for postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Eligible patients will undergo open or robotic TPIAT as part of the patient's surgical management. Perioperative outcomes, postoperative complications, metabolic outcomes, and early oncologic outcomes will be collected prospectively as part of routine clinical care and analyzed to assess the safety and feasibility of this approach.

The goal of this trial is to determine whether it is possible to minimize radiation dose to parts of the brain that are important for thinking and learning in children who require radiation to treat their tumor, and if this will help reduce neurocognitive (thinking and learning) impairments in these patients. Patients with newly diagnosed brain or head and neck tumors who are having radiation therapy will have neurocognitive testing and MRI imaging (both research and for regular care) done as part of their participation in the study. Survivors of childhood brain tumors who completed radiation therapy at least two years before joining the study, and have not had a recurrence, will have neurocognitive testing and research MRIs completed. Healthy children will also be enrolled and have research MRIs done. The researchers will use the radiation plan to determine how much radiation was delivered to different parts of the brain. The investigators will use the MRIs to determine how the normal brain is changing after treatment; and how this compares to patients who had standard radiation treatment or who never had a brain tumor. The neurocognitive testing will be compared among different groups to see how different treatment plans affect performance on neurocognitive tests.

This Phase 1 study will evaluate safety and the immune response to pooled mutant-KRAS peptide vaccine with poly-ICLC adjuvant for patients who have been identified to be at risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

The goal of this study is to evaluate combined radioactive iodine (RAI, 131-I) and external beam radiotherapy (XRT) to optimize the radiation dose delivered to treat well differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) with iodine-avid metastases. The investigators hypothesize that precise dosimetric planning will permit this combined RAI-XRT radiotherapeutic approach to be safe and permit higher tumor radiation doses than could otherwise be delivered. Patients with metastatic well-differentiated DTC) that is not completely resectable with macroscopic invasion of tumor into cervical soft tissues and/or non-resectable distant metastases, are the target study population. The primary objective is to evaluate safety as defined by the incidence of maximum grade 3 or greater NCI CTCAE toxicity observed during the treatment period and for the first 30 days following completion of radiotherapy. Secondary endpoints will evaluate efficacy at 6 months and feasibility of this combination to deliver a minimum cumulative dose of 80 Gy to the index tumors selected prior to treatment initiation. The investigators plan to enroll 48 subjects at an accrual rate of 1 subject per month over a study duration of 4 years.

The Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy center is establishing a registry to capture the full 3D radiation dosimetry delivered to the patient, baseline clinical data, and disease, toxicity and quality of life outcomes. The goal is to have all patients treated at the proton center to be included in the registry to enable future comparisons of treatment outcomes to assist in understanding which patients can benefit from the use of protons.

Activating the immune system to kill cancer cells is a promising therapeutic strategy for some patients with cancer. Unfortunately, current immune-targeting treatments do not work for patients with prostate cancer. In animal models of cancer, fasting can reprogram the body's metabolism and immune cell function to help immune cells kill cancer cells likely by increasing ketosis. The purpose of this study is to determine whether 7 days of water-only fasting or a ketogenic very low-calorie diet or ketone supplementation is safe and feasible for patients with prostate cancer. This will help the investigators develop future studies to test whether incorporating periods of fasting or very low calorie diets or a ketone supplement into treatment plans for prostate cancer can improve outcomes from this disease.

This is a single arm, Phase II trial involving the use of atezolizumab plus platinum and etoposide for patients with locally advanced urothelial cancer. The primary goal of this trial is to assess the pathologic complete response rate at cystectomy in patients after being treated with a combination therapy of atezolizumab, platinum, and etoposide.

This research study is being done to implement a screening program for prediabetes, diabetes, dyslipidemia and/or hyperlipidemia, and higher risk of cardiovascular disease in breast cancer survivors. This program will also help to direct individuals with risk factors to community and institutional resources for management.

The Brain Cancer Program, in partnership with the Center for Music and Medicine at Johns Hopkins, will study whether music therapy is feasible in newly diagnosed GBM patients undergoing standard care.