Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

Historically metastatic squamous cell carcinoma in a cervical lymph node from an occult primary malignancy of the head and neck was evaluated with panendoscopy and biopsies of high risk areas, such as the base of tongue, nasopharynx, and tonsils. This diagnostic protocol identifies the primary malignancy in about 50% of cases. In recent years, the availability of CT has slightly increased the detection rate to 65% when used as an adjunct to the traditional work-up. Studies using PET as an adjunct are conflicting with detection rates ranging up to 75%. Currently, no prospective study has analyzed the role of the PET-CT fusion in the work-up of an occult primary malignancy of the head and neck. This study will compare the detection rate of the traditional work-up to a new protocol involving a pre-operative diagnostic PET-CT.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate low oxygen areas called hypoxia within tumors. These low oxygen areas are thought to be the reason why tumors are more resistant to chemotherapy and radiation treatment. An imaging technique using a hypoxia tracer called fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) can detect low oxygen areas within a tumor. This imaging technique, called a PET scan, uses positively charged particles to detect slight changes in the body's biochemistry and metabolism. FMISO PET scans have been performed in patients with head and neck cancer and have shown the ability to detect low oxygen areas within tumors.

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the changes in body composition in head and neck cancer patients during treatment. The main questions it aims to answer are: What is the rate of lean body mass loss and how is it associated with changes in muscle strength and functional performance? Is the lean body mass loss impacted by adding chemotherapy to the radiation treatment? Participants will be asked to undergo five body composition scans during treatment and undergo tests for muscle strength and functional performance before and after treatment.

A study of Curcumin to prevent cancer anorexia and cachexia Syndrom in locally advance and advance stage head and neck cancer (stage III, IV)

The primary objective is to validate the diagnostic correlation between the intraoperative microendoscopic images and the conventional histological analysis on biopsy and/or surgical specimens on patients with epidermoid carcinoma.

The goal of this clinical research study is to learn which areas of the brain respond to acupuncture that is designed to prevent xerostomia (dry mouth) in patients with head and neck cancer. Researchers also want to learn if acupuncture can help prevent dry mouth and improve patient quality of life.

The purpose of the trial is to determine the feasibility of an induction chemotherapy with radio-immunotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer stage III/IV

The purpose of this trial is to determine the ability of positron emission tomography (PET) to detect residual cancer in neck lymph nodes of patients following curative treatment with radiation therapy for squamous cell cancer arising in the head and neck. Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergo treatment of curative intent; patients who are node positive (N2 N3 stages) undergo standard management which includes post-radiation planned neck dissection but two thirds of patients end up not having evidence of residual disease in neck dissection specimens; these patients could have avoided surgery. However, currently used standard tests, like computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot reliably predict who is post-radiation disease free.

This phase 2 trial studies how well panitumumab-IRDye800 works in identifying head and neck cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer. Panitumumab-IRDye800 may help surgeons to identify metastatic lymph nodes during surgical removal of the primary tumor and/or lymph nodes of the neck with equal or better accuracy than the current methods.

In this study, patients diagnosed with a pathology-proven malignancy of the head and neck will receive a routine clinical activity of 18F-FDG ((18)F-luorodeoxyglucose) before undergoing standard of care surgical resection of the malignancy. Following the resection, the 18F-FDG-infused malignancy will be investigated utilizing a novel high-resolution Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) scan. Slicing of the malignancy will be followed by additional PET/CT-scanning and autoradiography of the sliced specimen. The results found during image analysis will be compared to the results of the gold standard of histopathology. As this is no approved way of assessing the tumour's margin, the conclusion of the scan will not be used as a method for changing the patients' treatment.