Protocol Number: 97-H-0196
There are several treatments available for RCC that can be successful. However, once RCC has spread to other organs it is rarely curable. Surgery can be used to treat RCC, but in many patients the disease has spread too much to be removed by surgery. Medical treatment with chemotherapy can be used to treat RCC, but it has been relatively unsuccessful for patients whose cancer has spread to other organs. Bone marrow transplants (BMT) have been used to treat cancers of the blood and bone marrow. However, BMTs are usually combined with powerful doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These additional treatments are associated with toxic side effects, often making BMTs too dangerous to attempt in many patients. The effectiveness of BMT on solid tumors, like RCC, has not been well studied. Researchers are interested in learning more about the potential benefits of modified bone marrow transplant (allogenic stem cell transplantation) for patients with advanced renal cell cancer. In this study researchers plan to treat patients with advanced RCC with transplanted stem cells from a genetically matched brother or sister. These stem cells are healthy cells collected from the bone marrow of the patient's relative. Once the stem cells are transplanted they help to make new blood cells. In addition, immune factors found in the transplant can work to destroy cancerous cells. In order to avoid the toxic side effects normally associated with BMT, the stem cell transplant will be combined with low intensity chemotherapy. The majority of the cancer killing effect will be the responsibility of the stem cell transplant rather than the chemotherapy.
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National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Bethesda, Maryland 20892. Last update: 01/13/2009
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