Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: 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 docetaxel together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving docetaxel together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage II or stage III cancer of the larynx or hypopharynx.

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 I/II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have advanced mouth cancer.

RATIONALE: Inserting the gene for interleukin-2 into head and neck cancer cells may make the body build an immune response to kill the tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether the interleukin-2 gene is more effective than methotrexate for advanced head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to compare the effectiveness of the interleukin-2 gene with that of methotrexate in treating patients who have recurrent or refractory stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of fenretinide in treating patients who have recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.

Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for tumor cell growth. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining erlotinib with docetaxel may make the tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy and may kill more tumor cells. Phase I trial to study the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of combining erlotinib with docetaxel and radiation therapy in treating patients who have locally advanced head and neck cancer

Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of gefitinib in treating patients who have recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer. Biological therapies such as gefitinib may interfere with the growth of tumor cells by blocking an enzyme necessary for cell growth.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of docetaxel in treating patients with advanced solid tumors that have not responded to standard therapy or for which there is no effective therapy.

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 radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients with head and neck cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Chemoprotective drugs, such as amifostine, may protect normal cells from the side effects of chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of paclitaxel and radiation therapy plus chemoprotection with amifostine in treating patients with stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer.

The aim of the AURACCO study is to evaluate the association between the onset of tinnitus and hearing loss in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer treated by concomitant chemoradiotherapy or exclusive radiotherapy