Active clinical trials for "Oropharyngeal Neoplasms"

This study evaluates the possible benefits of a tasteless and sugar free chewing gum as a salivary stimulant for head and neck cancer patients treated with curative intended radiotherapy.

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.

This four-year, prospective, longitudinal study will evaluate and validate a patient-reported outcome measure, clinician-reported outcome measures, and imaging techniques in assessing characteristics, trajectory, and progression of lymphedema and fibrosis (LEF) in oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer patients. This clinical trial studies patient-and-clinician-reported measures as well as standard imaging methods to see how accurate they are in identifying and evaluating lymphedema (swelling) or fibrosis (tough or tight tissue) in the head and neck region of patients receiving treatment for newly diagnosed stage II-IV oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer. Lymphedema and fibrosis (LEF) can lead to physical symptoms, such as trouble swallowing and chewing, as well as psychological and emotional symptoms, such as negative body image and avoiding social interactions. Finding an accurate test to identify and evaluate LEF may allow doctors to treat LEF more quickly and control symptoms more effectively, and thus provide patients with a better quality of life.

There are multiple treatment modalities for head and neck cancer. They include radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery. Radiation therapy aims to control the tumor with minimum damage to adjacent tissues. Surgery is the preferred treatment for accessible cancers. Radiation and/or chemotherapy is used as an adjunct to surgery, in inaccessible tumors, post surgery sterilization and palliation. A major complication of RT is that adjacent normal tissues are variably affected. For Oropharyngeal cancer, major and minor salivary glands are damaged by RT since they fall in the radiation pathway. Atrophy and acinar degeneration are features most commonly found histologically. Xerostomia is defined as dry mouth resulting from reduced or absent saliva flow. Xerostomia is not a disease, but may be a symptom of various medical conditions, a side effect of a wide variety of medications and a side effect of a radiation to the head and neck.The flow rate of normal unstimulated saliva is 0.3-0.5 ml/min. If it decreases to less than 0.1-0.2 ml/min, one would experience xerostomia. According to researchers, the decrease in saliva and xerostomia that results from radiotherapy plays an important role in worsening Quality of Life(QoL) among patients who undergo radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. Low level laser Therapy(LLLT) uses light energy in the form of photons to produce cellular responses in the cell. Light photons are absorbed by cytochromes and porphyrins in the mitochondria of the cell. This study aims to prove that Low level laser therapy will improve salivary flow rate, pH and the quality of life in patients who have undergone Radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancers.

Bevacizumab may reduce CNS side effects caused by radiation therapy. This randomized phase II trial is studying how well bevacizumab works in reducing CNS side effects in patients who have undergone radiation therapy to the brain for primary brain tumor, meningioma, or head and neck cancer.

This is a monocentric, prospective, non-comparative phase II study with minimal risks and constraints. The study will aim to assess the curative treatment of radio-induced mucositis by photobiomodulation using LED lamp.

Strategies to minimize and mitigate external beam radiation therapy related mucositis and pain during the treatment of head and neck cancer remain limited. The investigators hypothesize that gabapentin could be used to delay or reduce treatment-related pain, reliance on opioid medication, and improve the quality of life for these patients.

Primary, Secondary, and Exploratory Objective(s): Primary objective: To evaluate the effect of interventions on 1st dose uptake of HPV vaccine.

This pilot clinical trial studies L-lysine in treating oral mucositis in patients undergoing radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy for head and neck cancer. L-lysine may lessen the severity of oral mucositis, or mouth sores in patients receiving radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy for head and neck cancer

The PEARL study will recruit approximately 50 patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) who are about to undergo primary treatment with concurrent chemo-radiation from South Wales (Velindre Cancer Centre and Singleton Hospital, Swansea) and Bristol. The main aim is to see whether it is feasible to preform a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan after 2 weeks of radiotherapy and re-plan the radiotherapy based on this PET-CT scan, to re-distribute the dose of radiotherapy being delivered, so that a smaller area of normal tissues in the mouth and throat are treated to a high dose of radiotherapy.