Active clinical trials for "Mouth Neoplasms"

This randomized phase III trial studies chemotherapy to see how well it works with or without bevacizumab in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has come back (recurrent) or that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic). Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, cisplatin, carboplatin, and fluorouracil, 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. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Bevacizumab may also make tumor cells more sensitive to chemotherapy and stop the growth of head and neck cancer by blocking blood flow to the tumor. It is not yet known whether combination chemotherapy is more effective when given with or without bevacizumab in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

This is a single-arm, multi-site, open-label trial of pembrolizumab (MK-3475) used in combination with standard, cisplatin-based, definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with stage III-IVB squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Approximately 39 patients with Stage III-IVB SCCHN will be enrolled to evaluate both the safety and efficacy of this novel combination. Subjects will not be randomized and will all receive the study treatment. Treatment will consist of a loading dose of pembrolizumab 200 mg IV given 7 days prior to initiation of CRT (day-7). CRT with cisplatin 40 mg/m2 IV weekly and head and neck radiation at 70 Gy fractionated at 2 Gy once daily over 35 days, will begin on day 1. CRT will end on approximately day 46-50. Pembrolizumab 200 mg IV will continue following CRT in an adjuvant fashion starting on day 57 for an additional 5 doses, as tolerated, through day 141. Subjects will be evaluated for response following treatment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate other drugs that may be combined with radiation to treat cancer. The study focuses on determining whether a combination of durvalumab with radiation can both improve cure rate and at the same time have less serious side effects. Throughout this document, this investigational drug will be referred to as the "study drug", or named individually (durvalumab). The study drug in this research is referred to as investigational because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved itfor the treatment of head and neck cancer. Durvalumab was FDA approved in 2017 for the treatment of certain types of bladder cancer, but has not been approved for use in Head and Neck cancer patients. Durvalumab is an experimental drug that uses the body's immune system to fight the cancer. This study drug is being used in other ongoing clinical trials for other types of cancers. The doctor feels that a patient may experience fewer side effects using this study drug with radiation rather than using cisplatin. The doctor is also investigating whether using this drug can increase the effectiveness of treatment.

This is a prospective, multi-center, open-label, non-randomized, multi-arm phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy of combination therapy with pembrolizumab and cetuximab for patients with recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. There will be four patient cohorts, including a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-naïve, cetuximab-naïve arm (Cohort 1), a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-refractory, cetuximab-naïve arm (Cohort 2), a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-refractory, cetuximab-refractory arm (Cohort 3), and a cutaneous HNSCC arm (Cohort 4). A total of 83 patients (33 in Cohort 1, 25 in Cohort 2, 15 in Cohort 3, and 10 in Cohort 4) will be eligible to enroll. Patients will be enrolled at 4 sites: UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, UC Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and University of Washington Siteman Cancer Center.

The purpose of this research study is to find out what effects, good and/or bad, topical application of the drug Aldara will have on patients and on their oral cancer. Aldara is a drug that activates toll-like receptor (TLR) in oral cancer cells causing self-destruction of tumor cells. It also activates immune cells to attack and eliminate cancer cells. Aldara is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of skin cancer and melanoma. Its use in this study is 'off-label' (use of a drug approved by FDA for skin cancer to treat oral cancer in this study). To assess the preliminary efficacy of topical imiquimod in neoadjuvant setting in patients with early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma as determined by best response rate (CR and PR). To assess local and systemic safety and tolerability by CTCAE v5 criteria. To explore the effect of imiquimod on the tumor immune microenvironment by performing quantitative multiplex immunofluorescence.

In patients with locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), due to the large tumor burden and neck lymph node metastasis, comprehensive treatment is recommended, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and others. Pre-operative inductive therapy can reduce tumor volume, increase organ retention rate, and reduce distant metastasis rate. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is over-expressed and associated with disease invasion and poor prognosis. The use of targeted therapy against VEGF can not only inhibit tumor neovascularization, but also make the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents. VEGF and VEGFR are closely related to immune escape. Tumor growth requires new blood vessels to supply nutrients and oxygen, and VEGF can stimulate neovascularization. However, tumor neovascularization is often abnormal and distorted, which prevents immune active substances from reaching the tumor site. After tumor hypoxia, high expression of VEGF will induce tumor cells to express programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1), which further leads to immune escape. Targeted drugs against angiogenesis can relieve immunosuppression to a certain extent, and theoretically have a synergistic effect with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. The innovation of this study is the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitor, Camrelizumab, and targeted drug against VEGFR, Apatinib, as an inductive therapy to treat the patients with locally advanced OSCC, followed with radical surgery and post-operative radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy, the major pathologic response and safety will be evaluated as the primary surrogate endpoints, the 2-year survival rate and local recurrence rate will be the second endpoints.

This study will examine the combination of pembrolizumab and tadalafil for safety and efficacy in advanced head and neck cancer.

A unique approach for cancer treatment employing intratumoral diffusing alpha radiation emitter device for superficial cutaneous, mucosal or soft tissue neoplasia

Previous work by a number of scientific teams has revealed that the types of bacteria that colonize the mouth differ between health and pre-cancerous or cancerous oral lesions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent of these changes and to correlate the changes with alterations in the activities of the host's own oral tissues. In doing so, we believe we can gain a better understanding of how particular bacterial species, or consortia of species, can result in an individual having an increased risk of the most common type of oral cancer -- oral squamous cell carcinoma. This knowledge may also lead to the identification of salivary biomarkers that can be used for clinical evaluation or screening. In addition, we seek to determine the extent to which a probiotic regimen can help prevent or rectify the disease-related changes in the types of bacterial colonizing the mouth. The microbiome in health, pre-cancerous lesions, and cancerous lesions will be determined from remnant microbial DNA in banked tissue samples. The effects of probiotics on the oral microbiome will be determined from DNA collected from swabs of oral tissue at baseline and then after 3 to 6 months of probiotic usage.

This phase II/III trial studies how well radiation therapy works with durvalumab or cetuximab in treating patients with head and neck cancer that has spread to a local and/or regional area of the body who cannot take cisplatin. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. 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. Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody that may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. It is not known if radiation therapy with durvalumab will work better than the usual therapy of radiation therapy with cetuximab in treating patients with head and neck cancer.