Active clinical trials for "Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck"

This pilot clinical trial studies how well Prepare to Care kit works in improving caregiver support in patients with stage I-IV head and neck cancer that is new or has come back. Prepare to Care kit may increase knowledge about head and neck cancer and enhance stress-management skills.

Evaluates the effect of EPA supplementation in terms of muscle mass in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck locally advanced

This randomized pilot clinical trial studies the side effects of gabapentin and how well it works when given together with methadone hydrochloride and oxycodone hydrochloride in improving quality of life in patients with stage II-IV head and neck cancer during chemoradiation. Gabapentin, methadone hydrochloride, and oxycodone hydrochloride may help relieve moderate or severe pain caused by head and neck cancer during and after chemoradiation therapy.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is both oncogene and prognostic biomarker in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). EGFR's functional importance in HNSCC resulted in development of the first molecularly targeted strategy, the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody cetuximab. Given the lack of therapeutic options for patients with recurrent/metastatic HNSCC after failure of cetuximab, there is strong scientific interest in understanding resistance in order to identify new therapies for this population. A possible resistance mechanism to anti-EGFR therapy in HNSCC is primary or compensatory activation of alternate growth factor receptors including c-Met. The MET oncogene encodes c-Met, an RTK bound exclusively by the ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). The HGF/c-Met signaling pathway converges with the EGFR network at both the PI3K/Akt and MAPK nodes. Laboratory data suggest the ability for reciprocal compensation between EGFR and c-Met. We hypothesize that HGF/c-Met pathway inhibition may overcome resistance to cetuximab in patients with HNSCC, such as those with clinical cetuximab resistance. Ficlatuzumab (AV-299) is a humanized HGF-inhibitory immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody. The primary objective of this phase 1b study is to find the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of the combination of ficlatuzumab and cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastaticHNSCC. The dose-finding study design will follow a Narayana k-in-a-row design with k set to 2 to target a 33% rate of dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). In the dose-finding phase, a total of 8 patients will be treated if no DLTs are observed or 14 patients if at least one DLT occurs. An expansion cohort will then proceed at RP2D until 12 patients have been treated at that dose level with the combination of ficlatuzumab and cetuximab. We will evaluate biomarkers of HGF/cMet pathway activation in baseline tissue, plasma and immune cells for a preliminary relationship with clinical activity.

Doctors leading this study will give blood tests to head and neck cancer participants during the beginning of chemotherapy treatment (also known as induction therapy) to see if these blood tests can help predict tumor shrinkage after therapy and reduce the amount of additional radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment the participant may need. This study will also examine ways to reduce overall side effects of treatment using robotic surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or radiotherapy alone.

This randomized pilot clinical trial studies whether acetylcysteine oral rinse will lessen saliva thickness and painful mouth sores in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation therapy. Side effects from radiation therapy to the head and neck, such as thickened saliva and mouth sores, may interfere with activities of daily living such as eating and drinking, and may also cause treatment to be stopped or delayed. Acetylcysteine rinse may reduce saliva thickness and mouth sores, and improve quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation therapy.

This randomized pilot clinical trial studies dexamethasone in reducing oral pain and dry mouth after surgery in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. Dexamethasone may help lower pain and dry mouth caused by surgery.

This phase II trial investigates how well sodium thiosulfate works in preventing ototoxicity (hearing loss/damage) in patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) who are undergoing a chemoradiation. Sodium thiosulfate is a type of medication used to treat cyanide poisoning and to help lessen the side effects from cisplatin. Chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, 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. Giving chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. The purpose of this trial is to find out whether it is feasible to give sodium thiosulfate 4 hours after each cisplatin infusion along with standard of care radiation therapy in patients with head and neck cancer. Giving sodium thiosulfate after cisplatin may help decrease the risk of hearing loss.

Avmacol is an over-the-counter dietary supplement containing broccoli seed and sprout extracts in tablet form, hypothesized to activate protective cellular pathways including detoxication. In this study, participants who have been curatively treatment for head and neck cancer, will take Avmacol twice a day for 3 months.

Malnutrition is currently a major factor of morbidity and mortality, which poses a major public health problem in developing countries but also, albeit to a lesser degree and for different reasons, for industrialized countries. It is recognized that in countries "of the North", from 30 to 60% of hospitalized patients suffer from dénutrition. In any case, it is covered by an imbalance between the contributions and needs; the two main mechanisms are a delivery failure (fasting, ingesting difficulty ...) and / or increased requirements (hypermetabolism ...). In cancer patients the Aero-Digestive Upper Airways (VADS), this imbalance is even more pronounced than the two mechanisms exist and potentiate. Patients included in this study are a population at risk, because of their therapeutic containing at least radiotherapy. It is recognized that this form of therapy exposes dental complications, mucous, saliva. These complications have a deleterious effect on the nutritional status of patients. The diagnosis, treatment and prevention of dénutritions have an important place in the therapeutic strategies of this type of cancer because it is events whose incidence and morbid consequences are high and for which there are appropriate nutritional treatments in most cas. While the complete correction of malnutrition generally passes by the effective etiological treatment of the causal pathology, therapeutic efficacy of the latter is often conditioned by the nutritionnel state. In addition to these concepts, investigators wants to study the benefits of a diet followed during the irradiation phase of patients with head and neck cancers and New treaties. We propose a randomized, phase III, open, multicenter, to evaluate the impact of a dietary consultation at home on the life quality of patients with head and neck cancer including first therapeutic sequence involves radiotherapy more or less aware. The duration of the study is 24 months. The main objective is to evaluate the impact of a dietary consultation at home on the life quality of patients with head and neck cancer including first therapeutic sequence involves a more or less sensitized radiotherapy.