Active clinical trials for "Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma"

This is an open, multicenter phase Ⅱ clinical trial on cetuximab (C225) combined with IMRT + concurrent chemotherapy of cisplatin in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

This phase II trial studies how well dasatinib works in treating patients with head and neck cancer that has come back or spread to other areas of the body. Dasatinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.

To demonstrate the feasibility of leukapheresis and ex vivo activation of autologous NK cells in patients with metastatic NPC To demonstrate the safety of low dose systemic IL-2 in combination with escalating doses of autologous Ex Vivo Activated NK cells in patients with metastatic NPC To assess immune measurements such as quantitation of regulatory T cells, EBV specific T cells, serum cytokine levels, and NK cell function after treatment with IL-2 and autologous Ex Vivo Activated NK cells

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of erlotinib hydrochloride when given together with cetuximab and to see how well they work in treating patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, or colorectal cancer. Erlotinib hydrochloride 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. Erlotinib hydrochloride and cetuximab may also stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Giving erlotinib hydrochloride together with cetuximab may kill more tumor cells.

Patients have a type of cancer called nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) that has either come back or not gone away after the best known standard treatments. Most patients that respond to chemotherapy once their NPC tumors have come back have been treated with a platinum-based medication like cisplatin. However, since many patients are given cisplatin during their initial treatment for NPC, in this study, they will be treated with another platinum-based chemotherapy medicine that has been used in patients with NPC called carboplatin. In this study, carboplatin will be used in combination with another drug called docetaxel. Other studies in patients with advanced head and neck cancer have shown that docetaxel can cause tumors to respond better and allow patients to survive longer when added to the standard treatments for those diseases. Some patients with NPC show evidence of infection with the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis, known as the Epstein Barr virus (EBV), before or at the time of their cancer diagnosis. EBV is found in the cancer cells of almost all patients with advanced stage disease, suggesting that it may play a role in causing NPC. Previously, patients have been treated with high-risk NPC using EBV-specific cytotoxic T cells. These cells are grown in the laboratory and taught to recognize and attack EBV infected cells. In the past, patients were either given the cells alone or just after they had received a medication to briefly lower their white blood cell count. In both cases, many patients had their tumors shrink and in some cases completely disappear after being treated with these EBV-specific cytotoxic T cells. Investigators have now decided to look at how patients with NPC and their tumors respond to the treatment combination of chemotherapy and EBV-CTL. Patients are being asked to participate in this study since the NPC tumor is associated with EBV and has either come back or not responded to standard treatment. This combination of chemotherapy and EBV-CTLs is an investigational treatment not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of this study is to see how relapsed or refractory, EBV-associated NPC tumors respond when treated with carboplatin and docetaxel followed by EBV-CTL.

This study will examine the effectiveness and side effects of an experimental vaccine to prevent recurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer. The likelihood of this cancer returning is higher in patients whose original lesion was large, whose cancer had spread to the adjacent lymph nodes, or who had surgery for metastatic disease (cancer that spread beyond the primary site). Nasopharyngeal tumors are caused by a common virus called Epstein-Barr virus, which produces a protein called LMP-2. Vaccination with specific pieces, or peptides, of the LMP-2 protein may boost the immune system's fight against the cancer. The vaccine injections are mixed with an oil-based substance called Montanide ISA-51, which is intended to increase the immune response to the peptide. Patients 18 years of age and older whose nasopharyngeal cancer has been controlled by standard treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy and who are currently free of disease may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a physical examination and blood and urine tests. x-rays and other imaging studies are also done in patients who have not had these tests recently. All candidates are tested for HLA tissue type. Only patients with type HLA-A*1101 or HLA-A*2402 - the types on which the two vaccines in this study are based - receive vaccine therapy; others are offered standard medical treatment and observation. Participants are randomly assigned to receive injections of one of two different vaccines (LMP-2:340-349 or LMP-2:419-427) to determine which peptide may offer the best immunity. Each treatment course consists of weekly immunizations for 8 consecutive weeks. The injections are given under the skin of the thigh. After every other treatment course (about every 3 months), patients undergo a series of x-rays and scans to look for tumor. The immunizations are given at the NIH Clinical Center. Patients are monitored for 1 hour after each injection and have blood tests and a physical examination to look for treatment side effects. Immunizations may continue for up to 12 months as long as the cancer does not return. Patients are followed with blood tests every 12 weeks to monitor body functions. They also undergo leukapheresis-a procedure to collect white blood cells-before starting treatment and about 3 to 4 weeks after the fourth vaccine to evaluate how the vaccines affect the action of the immune system cells. For this procedure, blood is drawn through a needle in the arm, similar to donating blood. The blood is processed by a machine that separates and removes the lymphocytes (white blood cells), and the rest of the blood is returned through a needle in the other arm. Patients not receiving the vaccine also undergo leukapheresis to assess their natural response to LMP-2. Some patients may have a biopsy-surgical removal of a small piece of tissue under local anesthetic-of normal skin and tumor or lymph node tissue to examine the vaccine's effects on the tumor immune cells. Patients who show no evidence of immunization against the LMP-2 protein after two courses of vaccine treatment are subsequently be followed with observation alone. Those who do respond to the vaccine are offered two additional courses of treatment to strengthen the response or to be followed by observation alone. Patients whose disease recurs after completing the first two treatment courses are taken off the study and referred back to their local physician or to another study, if an appropriate one is available.

This phase II trial is studying how well oxaliplatin works in treating young patients with recurrent solid tumors that have not responded to previous treatment. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as oxaliplatin, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether very high dosages of chemotherapy will improve the chance of surviving 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

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of raltitrexed and cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by concurrent radiotherapy with raltitrexed and cisplatin in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.