Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

The purpose of the investigation is to learn whether intense swallowing exercise or intense swallowing exercise coupled with electrical stimulation (E-Stim) helps patients who had head/neck cancer and currently have dysphagia swallow better.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy together with cetuximab and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil together with cetuximab and radiation therapy works in treating patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

This is a study for patients who have head and neck cancer that has recurred in the body area where they previously received radiation, and for whom surgery is not planned. A widely accepted treatment option in this situation is chemotherapy alone. Another approach that has been used in clinical trials is to treat patients with a repeat course of radiation. In these studies, some patients received chemotherapy at the same time as the radiation. In this clinical study, we wish to treat with radiation plus two drugs during the course of reirradiation, Taxotere® (docetaxel) and Erbitux® (cetuximab). Docetaxel and cetuximab both are chemotherapy drugs which are administered by vein. Both drugs help radiation kill cancer cells. The radiation will be administered using a strategy called intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which focuses the radiation beam on the tumor. Docetaxel and cetuximab are both approved for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. However, the combination of radiation + docetaxel + cetuximab for patients with recurrent head and neck cancer is considered to be a topic for clinical research. The purpose of this study is to determine the good and bad effects of treatment with radiation + docetaxel + cetuximab.

RATIONALE: Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving erlotinib together with docetaxel and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well erlotinib given together with docetaxel and radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage III or stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

To evaluate the feasibility and safety of (cohort 1) postoperative standard fractionation radiotherapy plus Iressa and of (cohort 2) hyperfractionated radiotherapy plus cisplatin and Iressa

The purpose of this study is to determine the recommended dose of siltuximab monotherapy, in participants with solid malignant (cancerous) tumors (a mass in a specific area) and to estimate the clinical benefit of siltuximab monotherapy in participants with ovarian cancer and with Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutant tumors.

RATIONALE: Bortezomib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Giving bortezomib together with cetuximab may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of bortezomib when given together with cetuximab in treating patients with advanced solid tumors.

The specific aim of this study will be to determine the safety of TRAUMEEL S for mucositis in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the combination of two new drugs pemetrexed (Alimta) and bevacizumab (Avastin) can increase the effectiveness of treatment for head and neck cancer. Currently pemetrexed is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for another type of cancer, mesothelioma, but it is not approved for head and neck cancer.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of a unique targeted agent called Cetuximab (also known as "C225" and "Erbitux") can increase the effectiveness of standard treatment with chemotherapy and radiation.