Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of erlotinib in treating patients who have metastatic or unresectable solid tumors and liver or kidney dysfunction. Biological therapies such as erlotinib may interfere with the growth of tumor cells and slow the growth of the tumor

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. It is not yet known which radiation therapy regimen is more effective in treating patients with stage II cancer of the vocal cord. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare two regimens of radiation therapy in treating patients who have stage II cancer of the vocal cord.

RATIONALE: SU5416 may stop the growth of cancer cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of SU5416 in treating patients who have advanced or recurrent cancer of the head and neck.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have head and neck cancer.

Radiotherapy is the primary treatment modality or an important adjunct treatment for many patients with H&N carcinoma. Local control is directly related to dose and to the technical accuracy with which the dose is delivered to the target volume. Traditional radiotherapy techniques result in significant doses being delivered to normal tissues adjacent to the target, including the spinal cord and salivary glands. This leaves the patient with significant acute and late normal tissue toxicity that impacts on both the ability to tolerate the actual treatment and on the patient's long-term quality of life. Recently, the investigators have used static conformal multisegmental intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for a comprehensive irradiation of head and neck cancer with dose sparing of uninvolved tissues. This has resulted in substantial preservation of major salivary gland function in many patients with primary sites in the oral pharynx, oral cavity, nasopharynx, and pyriform sinus. While the investigators' results to date have shown promising preservation of salivary flow, they do not know whether patients treated with IMRT have similar local control rates as those treated with standard radiotherapy. Some investigators have raised the concern that by giving a low radiation dose to areas adjacent to the target volume there is a risk of undertreating the disease. On the other hand, the IMRT delivered with this protocol (called "simultaneous integrated boost", or SIB) may improve local control rates by delivering the same biologically effective dose in a shorter overall time period. This is a phase I/II trial which seeks to establish the efficacy of IMRT for H&N cancer treatment, and to further investigate the relationship between radiation dose to the parotid glands, salivary flow, and quality of life.

This research study is studying a drug called Amifostine as a treatment for squamous cell carcinoma in the head and/or neck area.

Sorafenib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. It may also stop the growth of tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. This phase II trial is studying how well sorafenib works in treating patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cance

The combined use of chemotherapeutic drugs with radiation has proven to be effective in improving overall survival and local control among patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Induction chemotherapy given before receiving local treatment has been shown to reduce the rate of distant failure. Many drugs have been found to prevent tumor cells from growing or dividing, although it has yet to be determined which agent, or specific combination of agents, is most effective in treating head and neck cancer. Docetaxel is a drug which has been reported to show promising activity in Phase II head and neck cancer studies. Therefore, the purpose of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy versus the same chemoradiotherapy alone in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

This phase I trial is studying the side effects of gefitinib in treating patients with metastatic or unresectable head and neck cancer or non-small cell lung cancer. Gefitinib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin in treating patients with refractory advanced solid tumors or hematologic cancers.