Active clinical trials for "Laryngeal Neoplasms"

The purpose of this study is to learn how to identify early which patients will respond to chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in order to reduce the number of subjects who require surgery (followed by radiation therapy).

Surgery with post operative radiotherapy (PORT) had been the mainstay of treatment for advanced laryngeal-pharyngeal cancers (ALHC) until the eighth decade of the past century. Total laryngectomy with post-operative radiotherapy (TL + PORT) used to result in permanent tracheostomy and loss of speech. Early trials like the VA or European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trials compared surgery with post-operative radiotherapy to induction chemotherapy (ICT) and radiotherapy (RT). Subsequent attempts have been focused on the added benefit of including concurrent chemotherapy. There is no randomized trial available in the literature comparing concurrent chemoradiation with the standard treatment, i.e. surgery followed by radiotherapy. However, most of the studies comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy reported better locoregional control rates and better survival rates with surgery followed by post-operative chemotherapy. Further, the advances in primary voice rehabilitation have substantially improved the quality of life after laryngectomy. Thus, there is a strong case for comparing the results of concurrent chemo-radiation with surgery and post-operative radiotherapy in a randomized clinical trial. This trial will answer the question - "whether we are saving voice at the cost of life". The investigators propose to randomize 900 patients of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers in surgery with PORT and a concomitant chemoradiation arm and compare the survival and locoregional control rates.

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of gefitinib when given together with radiation therapy with or without cisplatin in treating patients with stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer. Biological therapies such as gefitinib may interfere with the growth of tumor cells and slow the growth of cancer. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining gefitinib and radiation therapy with cisplatin may kill more tumor cells

This phase I trial studies how well talactoferrin works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or squamous cell head and neck cancer. Biological therapies, such as talactoferrin, may stimulate the immune system in different ways and stop tumor cells from growing

RATIONALE: Erlotinib hydrochloride may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Erlotinib hydrochloride may also make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x- rays and other types of radiation to kill tumor cells. Giving erlotinib hydrochloride together with radiation therapy may be an effective treatment for patients with head and neck cancer.PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving erlotinib hydrochloride together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage III-IV squamous cell cancer of the head and neck.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of adding the investigational drug Motexafin Gadolinium to the standard treatment of radiation therapy and chemotherapy with drugs called 5-FU and cisplatin in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.

RATIONALE: Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is a less invasive type of surgery for head and neck cancer and may have fewer side effects and improve recovery. PURPOSE: This clinical trial studies how transoral robotic surgery works in treating patients with benign or stage I-IV head and neck cancer.

This pilot research trial studies circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in predicting outcomes in patients with stage IV head and neck cancer or stage III-IV non-small cell lung cancer. Studying circulating tumor DNA from patients with head and neck or lung cancer in the laboratory may help doctors predict how well patients will respond to treatment.

Respiratory recurrent papilloma (RRP) is one of the most common benign tumors. Surgical removal is the current management for RRP, but it is a very traumatic procedure, and often leads to permanent voice dysfunction. In this study, we will develop a new, combined RRP treatment with a pulsed dye laser (PDL) and Celebrex. We will determine if Celebrex, a newly developed inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, can provide a long-term inhibitory effect on RRP, therefore preventing RRP from recurring. This combined strategy, if successful in this proposed study, will provide a new and ideal "voice-preserving" therapy for RRP that will deliver long-term efficacy in managing RRP.

Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of intratumoral (in the tumor) PV701 in treating patients who have advanced or recurrent unresectable squamous cell carcinoma (cancer) of the head and neck. Vaccines made from a specially-modified virus such as PV701 may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells while leaving normal cells undamaged. Injecting PV701 directly into the tumor may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells