Anal Cancer clinical trials at UCSD

This phase II trial studies how well lower-dose chemotherapy plus radiation (chemoradiation) therapy works in comparison to standard-dose chemoradiation in treating patients with early-stage anal cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as mitomycin, fluorouracil, and capecitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Giving chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. This study may help doctors find out if lower-dose chemoradiation is as effective and has fewer side effects than standard-dose chemoradiation, which is the usual approach for treatment of this cancer type.

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of nivolumab when given with ipilimumab in treating patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated classical Hodgkin lymphoma that has returned after a period of improvement (relapsed) or does not respond to treatment (refractory), or solid tumors that have spread from where it first started to other places in the body (metastatic) or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as ipilimumab and nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Ipilimumab is an antibody that acts against a molecule called cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4). CTLA-4 controls a part of the immune system by shutting it down. Nivolumab is a type of antibody that is specific for human programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), a protein that is responsible for destruction of immune cells. Giving ipilimumab with nivolumab may work better in treating patients with HIV associated classical Hodgkin lymphoma or solid tumors compared to ipilimumab with nivolumab alone.