Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

Presently, there is no effective treatment for patients with advanced head and neck cancer (AHNC) that failed to respond to the standard therapy (radiation, chemotherapy and surgery) in the US. These patients are deemed incurable AHNC. In the European Union (EU), interstitial photodynamic therapy (I-PDT) with Temoporfin is approved for the treatment of patients with incurable AHNC. Well designed EU studies have shown that I-PDT with Temoporfin can provide worthwhile palliation by reducing tumor size, bleeding and pain in 53% - 60% of patients with incurable AHNC. This is a significantly higher rate in comparison to the reported response rate of palliative chemotherapy (6-30%). However, the EU studies did not correlate quantitative tumor response with clinical outcome. In addition, quality of life (QoL) improvements associated with I-PDT of AHNC using Temoporfin were also not evaluated. The objective of this study is to quantify the tumor response and patient's QoL to I-PDT with Temoporfin. Successfully meeting this objective will give us the tools the investigators need to design larger studies to significantly improve the management and QoL of patients with AHNC.

This randomised, double-blind phase III trial will be performed in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The objectives of the trial are to compare the efficacy and safety of afatinib (BIBW 2992) with placebo as adjuvant therapy to patients who have received definitive chemo-radiotherapy.

This is a single-arm, phase II trial to characterize the clinical outcome of standard of care, cetuximab concurrent with radiation, in a special population (head and neck cancer patients who cannot tolerate concurrent chemoradiotherapy due to advanced age, poor performance status or concurrent illness), and to determine if biomarker response to a loading dose of cetuximab is predictive of that outcome.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety of zalutumumab in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy as treatment of patients with head and neck cancer

Rationale for Study Oral mucositis is a major complication arising from contemporary chemoradiation treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. No effective therapy exists to prevent this complication in this population. MRX-1024 is an investigational agent that has demonstrated in in vitro and in vivo experiments to have the potential to exert a protective effect in normal mucosa cells, without interfering with the intended antitumor effect of radiation. A pilot Phase 1 study of MRX-1024 was conducted in India in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiation alone or radiation in combination with cisplatin or carboplatin. MRX 1024 doses of 100 mgkg given orally twice a day, five days a week during radiation treatment cycles, were well tolerated and appeared to exert a protective effect against the development of severe mucositis. Twice daily doses of MRX 1024 impose a certain level of inconvenience to the patient, to their clinic companion, and to the general work flow within radiation oncology clinics. This study is designed to study the safety and pharmacokinetics of both single daily dose and twice daily dose regimens of oral MRX 1024 given in conjunction with daily radiation fractions and intermittent high-dose cisplatin to patients with high-risk for recurrence head and neck cancer following surgical resection. The study will also document the incidence and severity of oral mucositis that occurs following such therapy. The results will be instrumental in determining the regimen of MRX 1024 to use in subsequent definitive clinical trials.

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. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. The doctor also wants to find out if patients who receive this treatment need a feeding tube 1 year after starting treatment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety of zalutumumab in combination with radiotherapy as the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer who are not eligible for platinum based chemotherapy.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, 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. Vandetanib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It is not yet known whether giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy is more effective with or without vandetanib in treating patients with head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy to see how well it works compared with giving chemotherapy and radiation therapy together with vandetanib in treating patients with high-risk stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer.

RATIONALE: Photodynamic therapy uses a drug that becomes active when it is exposed to a certain kind of light. When the drug is active, tumor cells are killed. Photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium may be effective against mouth or throat dysplasia and cancer of the mouth and throat. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying how well photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium works in treating patients with recurrent mouth or throat dysplasia, recurrent in situ cancer of the mouth or throat, or stage I cancer of the mouth or throat.

Primary Objectives: Develop and pilot test an innovative intervention to determine its feasibility and acceptability to patients. Recruitment rate, patient satisfaction, attendance, questionnaire completion rates and the reliability and validity of the questionnaires will be assessed. Conduct preliminary analyses on the efficacy of the intervention in improving patients' depression. Evaluate whether depression levels in patients receiving the intervention decreases, and whether the decrease is greater among those who complete more sessions. Test the relationship between patients' depression levels and adherence to swallowing rehabilitation and to dental preventive maintenance regimens.