Etoposide, Cyclophosphamide, Thalidomide, Celecoxib, and Fenofibrate in Relapsed or Progressive Cancer

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as etoposide and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Thalidomide, celecoxib, and fenofibrate may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking blood flow to the cancer. Celecoxib also may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving combination chemotherapy together with thalidomide, celecoxib, and fenofibrate may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving etoposide and cyclophosphamide together with thalidomide, celecoxib, and fenofibrate works in treating young patients with relapsed or progressive cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Evaluate the activity of etoposide, cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, celecoxib, and fenofibrate, in terms of prolonging the time to disease progression, in young patients with relapsed or progressive cancer. Secondary * Determine, preliminarily, the biologic activity of this regimen, in terms of tumor response and overall survival, in these patients. * Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients. * Evaluate different radiographic techniques as markers of tumor response in these patients. * Evaluate the predictive ability of in vitro correlative studies as markers of tumor response. STATISTICAL DESIGN: Patients were classified into one of 8 strata according to diagnosis: leukemia/lymphoma, bone tumors, neuroblastoma, high grade glial tumors, low grade glial tumors, ependymoma, medulloblastoma/PNET, and miscellaneous. A two-stage design for each disease stratum was planned. The accrual goal at the end of the two-stage design was 20 subjects for each stratum. A stopping rule was applied after the accrual of the first 10 eligible subjects enrolled in each disease stratum. If 1 or more patients in the first 10 evaluable patients were alive and progression-free at 27 weeks and have tolerated therapy then accrual to stage two would proceed. Among 20 patients within a stratum, if 3 or more patients met primary endpoint then regimen would be considered successful. The probability of concluding the treatment is feasible is 0.95 if true success rate is 30% and 0.07 if true succes rate is 5%. Overall accrual target was 80-160 patients. Please see published manuscript (Robison et al Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014) for results within disease strata.