Clinical Trials

This study is being done to answer the following questions: Can we lower the chance of your gastric cancer from growing or spreading by administering paclitaxel chemotherapy directly into your abdominal cavity in addition to chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm? Will administering paclitaxel chemotherapy directly into your abdominal cavity, in addition to chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm help you live longer? We are doing this study because we want to find out if this approach is better or worse than the usual approach for your gastric cancer. The usual approach is defined as care most people get for gastric cancer. If you decide to take part in this study, you will first receive a surgical procedure called a diagnostic laparoscopy. This will help the study doctors learn more about your gastric cancer. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgery for which you will be placed under general anesthesia. Then the surgeon will make small incisions (5mm) on your belly through which a camera and thin instruments are introduced to evaluate the abdomen. This procedure takes about 1 hour to complete. Your study group will be assigned during the surgery. The study groups are described further in the What are the study groups? section below. If you are placed into the study group 1, you will not have an intraperitoneal port (a small device which is placed under the skin and fat of your upper abdomen and a tube that is placed into the abdomen). If you are placed into the study group 2, you will have an intraperitoneal port placed. The reason is that in addition to standard chemotherapy, which is given through a vein in your arm, this port will be used to deliver the medication paclitaxel directly inside your abdomen when you are ready to start study treatment. It is important to know that you will not know your study group until after the surgery is over. This is because information that is learned during the surgery will help determine which study group you are put in. Once you have fully healed from this surgery, you will start study treatment. Depending on which study group you are assigned, you will either receive a standard chemotherapy regimen (the regimen will be chosen by you and your doctor) if you are in study group 1, or paclitaxel through a tube in your belly plus chemotherapy given through a vein in your arm if you are in study group 2. All participants will get treatment for three (3) months after which you will undergo reevaluation. If the disease is under control or responding to treatment, you may continue the assigned treatment until your disease gets worse, the side effects become too severe, or you may be offered a surgical procedure to remove the cancer if the amount of disease is low and can be completely removed as determined by a surgeon. There is a very small chance that during the laparoscopy surgical procedure, the doctor might find something called intra-abdominal adhesions. These are areas where the stomach has healed previously and created scar tissue. If this scar tissue prevents the surgeon from being able to place a port in the correct area, you would be ineligible to receive the study treatment. If this happens, you may still receive standard of care therapy after your surgery, but you will not be able to continue on the study. If you have more questions about this, you can ask your surgeon or the study team to help. After you finish your study treatment, your doctor or study team will watch you for side effects. They will continue to follow your condition every three (3) months during the first two (2) years, then every six (6) months until year 5. You may be reevaluated with Chest/Abdomen/Pelvis scans every three-six (3-6) months for up to five (5) years if decided by your doctor.

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the effect of cabozantinib versus combination dabrafenib and trametinib for the treatment of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer that does not respond to treatment (refractory) and which expresses a BRAF V600E mutation. Cabozantinib is in a class of medications called receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors. It binds to and blocks the action of several enzymes which are often over-expressed in a variety of tumor cell types. This may help stop or slow the growth of tumor cells and blood vessels the tumor needs to survive. Dabrafenib is an enzyme inhibitor that binds to and inhibits the activity of a protein called B-raf, which may inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells which contain a mutated BRAF gene. Trametinib is also an enzyme inhibitor. It binds to and inhibits the activity of proteins called MEK 1 and 2, which play a key role in activating pathways that regulate cell growth. This may inhibit the growth of tumor cells mediated by these pathways. The usual approach for patients with thyroid cancer is targeted therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib. This trial may help researchers decide which treatment option (cabozantinib alone or dabrafenib in combination with trametinib) is safer and/or more effective in treating patients with refractory BRAF V600E-mutated differentiated thyroid cancer.

MMC - Eau Claire Cancer Center

2200 Craig Road

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Rice Lake

1700 W Stout St

Rice Lake, WI 54868

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the effect of high dose chemotherapy and the patients' own (autologous) stem cells to observation only in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma who achieved a complete response after initial chemotherapy. Usual treatment after a complete response may include observation or high dose chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant, however, it is not known if a transplant if beneficial. Giving chemotherapy before a stem cell transplant helps kill cancer cells in the body and helps make room in the patient's bone marrow for new blood-forming cells (stem cells) to grow. Stem cells removed prior to treatment are then returned to the patient to replace the blood forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy. Giving high dose chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant may be more effective compared to observation only in treating patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma who have achieved a complete response after initial chemotherapy.

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

This phase II trial studies how well cabozantinib works in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab in treating patients with rare genitourinary (GU) tumors that have spread to other places in the body. Cabozantinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving cabozantinib, nivolumab, and ipilimumab may work better in treating patients with genitourinary tumors that have no treatment options compared to giving cabozantinib, nivolumab, or ipilimumab alone.

Marshfield Medical Center - Rice Lake

1700 W STOUT ST

RICE LAKE, WI 54868

MC - Chippewa Falls Center

2655 CTY HWY I

CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI 54729

MC - Wausau Center

2727 PLAZA DRIVE

WAUSAU, WI 54401

MC - Wisconsin Rapids Center

220 24TH ST SOUTH

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI 54494

MMC - Eau Claire

2116 Craig Rd

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Ladysmith

1200 Port Arthur Rd

Ladysmith, WI 54848

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the effect of bevacizumab and AZD9291 (osimertinib) combination vs. osimertinib alone for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer that has spread outside of the lungs (stage IIIB-IV) and has a change (mutation) in a gene called EGFR. The EGFR protein is involved in cell signaling pathways that control cell division and survival. Sometimes, mutations in the EGFR gene cause EGFR proteins to be made in higher than normal amounts on some types of cancer cells. This causes cancer cells to divide more rapidly. Osimertinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking EGFR that is needed for cell growth in this type of cancer. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving osimertinib with bevacizumab may control cancer for longer and help patients live longer as compared to osimertinib alone.

Marshfield Medical Center - Rice Lake

1700 W STOUT ST

RICE LAKE, WI 54868

MMC - Eau Claire

2116 Craig Rd

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding chemotherapy to immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) versus immunotherapy alone in treating patients with stage IIIB-IV lung cancer. 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. Chemotherapy drugs 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. Giving pembrolizumab and chemotherapy may help stabilize lung cancer.

MMC - Eau Claire Cancer Center

2200 Craig Road

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Rice Lake

1700 W Stout St

Rice Lake, WI 54868

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

Can we treat your melanoma just as effectively without doing a sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in addition to your wide local excision (WLE) procedure? A wide local excision (WLE) is a surgical procedure performed to cut out an abnormal lesion and some surrounding normal tissue. This is sometimes followed by a sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, in which lymph nodes that cancer cells could spread to are removed as well. We are doing this study because we want to find out if performing the WLE alone is just as effective as the usual approach for your melanoma, and if it leads to improvements in patients' overall well-being. The usual approach is defined as care most people get for the early stage of melanoma that you currently have.

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase II trial compares the effect of immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) plus chemotherapy (doxorubicin) to chemotherapy (doxorubicin) alone in treating patients with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) or a related poorly differentiated sarcoma that has spread from where it first started to other places in the body (metastatic) or that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Doxorubicin is in a class of medications called anthracyclines. Doxorubicin damages the cell's DNA and may kill tumor cells. It also blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair. A monoclonal antibody is a type of protein that can bind to certain targets in the body, such as molecules that cause the body to make an immune response (antigens). 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. Adding immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) to the standard chemotherapy (doxorubicin) may help patients with metastatic or unresectable UPS or a related poorly differentiated sarcoma live longer without having disease progression.

MMC - Eau Claire Cancer Center

2200 Craig Road

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Rice Lake

1700 W Stout St

Rice Lake, WI 54868

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the addition of apalutamide, with or without targeted radiation therapy, to standard of care treatment versus standard of care treatment alone in patients with prostate cancer biochemical recurrence (a rise in the blood level of prostate-specific antigen [PSA] after treatment with surgery or radiation). Diagnostic procedures, such as positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), may help doctors look for cancer that has spread to the pelvis. Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Apalutamide may help fight prostate cancer by blocking the use of androgens by the tumor cells. Targeted radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors that have spread. This trial may help doctors determine if using PET/CT results to deliver more tailored treatment (i.e., adding apalutamide, with or without targeted radiation therapy, to standard of care treatment) works better than standard of care treatment alone in patients with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Marshfield Medical Center - Rice Lake

1700 W STOUT ST

RICE LAKE, WI 54868

MMC - Eau Claire Cancer Center

2200 Craig Road

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding durvalumab to chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone before surgery in treating patients with upper urinary tract cancer. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as durvalumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs, such as methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, cisplatin, and gemcitabine 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. Durvalumab in combination with chemotherapy before surgery may enhance the shrinking of the tumor compared to chemotherapy alone.

Marshfield Medical Center - Rice Lake

1700 W STOUT ST

RICE LAKE, WI 54868

MMC - Eau Claire Cancer Center

2200 Craig Road

Eau Claire, WI 54701

MMC - Marshfield

1000 N OAK AVE

MARSHFIELD, WI 54449

MMC - Minocqua

9576 WI-70 Trunk

MINOCQUA, WI 54548

MMC - Stevens Point Campus

4100 WI-66

Stevens Point, WI 54482

MMC - Weston

3400 Ministry Parkway

Weston, WI 54476