Protocol Number: 04-C-0001
Patients 10 years of age and older with recurrent osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and inoperable or recurrent inoperable chondrosarcoma may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests, and CT or MRI scans, or both. Participants receive gemcitabine and docetaxel in 21-day cycles as follows: - Gemcitabine is given as a 90-minute infusion on days 1 and 8 of each cycle through a catheter (thin plastic tube) placed in an arm vein. - Docetaxel is given as a 60-minute infusion following the gemcitabine infusion on day 8 of each cycle. - Filgrastim is given as an injection under the skin either: 1) daily, beginning the day after each docetaxel infusion and continuing until the bone marrow is recovered from chemotherapy (usually 7 to 10 days); or 2) in a long-acting form on the day after the docetaxel infusion. Filgrastim boosts production of blood cells that have been depleted as a result of chemotherapy. Patients are taught to self-administer the injections. Treatment will continue for a total of 14 cycles or until the patient's tumor gets larger, side effects are unacceptable, the patient decides to stop treatment, or further treatment would not be in the patient's best interest. In addition to taking the study drugs, patients undergo the following tests and procedures: - Placement of temporary (IV line) or semi-permanent (Hickman, Broviac, or Port-a-Cath) catheters for giving chemotherapy and other drugs and for drawing blood samples. - History and physical examination before each dose of chemotherapy to assess health status and drug side effects. - Blood tests to measure blood counts, liver and kidney function, and electrolyte levels. - Blood sampling for pharmacology studies on days 1 and 8 of treatment cycle 1 (6 samples on day 1; 11 samples on day 8) to study how the body handles gemcitabine and docetaxel. - Imaging studies that may include x-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, nuclear medicine scans, and bone scans - Tumor genetic studies. Tumor samples from patients who require surgery to remove a tumor will be grown in a test tube or in animals to define what genes are expressed (turned on) in the tumor. At the end of chemotherapy, patients will be monitored for treatment side effects and disease progress, initially every 3 months and then every 6 months until 2 years from finishing treatment
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