Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms, Unknown Primary"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have metastatic cancer.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage 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 combining mitomycin or porfiromycin with radiation therapy is more effective in treating patients with head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of radiation therapy plus either mitomycin or porfiromycin in treating patients with head and neck cancer.

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.

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.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving radiation therapy in different ways may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which regimen of radiation therapy is more effective in treating patients who have metastases to the lymph nodes in the neck. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare different radiation therapy regimens in treating patients who have metastases to the lymph nodes in the neck from an unknown primary tumor.

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

This study is being done to determine the dose of a chemotherapy drug (irinotecan [irinotecan hydrochloride]) that can be tolerated as part of a combination of drugs. There is a combination of chemotherapy drugs often used to treat gastrointestinal cancer, which consists of 5-FU (fluorouracil), leucovorin (leucovorin calcium), irinotecan and oxaliplatin and is known as "FOLFIRINOX". FOLFIRINOX is a current drug therapy combination (or regimen) used for people with advanced pancreatic cancer, although this combination is not Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for this indication. FOLFIRINOX was recently shown in a separate clinical trial to increase survival compared to another commonly used drug in pancreatic cancer called gemcitabine. FOLFIRINOX is also a reasonable regimen for those with other advanced cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, including colon cancer, rectal cancer, esophagus cancer, stomach cancer, gall bladder cancer, bile duct cancer, ampullary cancer, and cancers with an unknown primary location. The best dose of irinotecan to use in FOLFIRINOX is not known. This study will analyze one gene (uridine 5'-diphospho [UDP] glucuronosyltransferase 1 family, polypeptide A1 [UGT1A1] gene) of subjects for the presence of an alteration in that gene, which may affect how the body handles irinotecan. Genes help determine some of the investigators individual characteristics, such as eye color, height and skin tone. Genes may also determine why people get certain diseases and how medicines may affect them. The result of the genetic analysis will divide subjects into one of three groups: A, B, or C. Group A (approximately 45% of subjects) will receive the standard dose of irinotecan. Group B (approximately 45% of subjects) will receive a lower dose of irinotecan. Group C (approximately 10% of subjects) will receive an even lower dose of irinotecan

This study is designed to evaluate the value of tissue-of-origin (ORIGIN-PanCA○R) profiling in predicting primary site and directing therapy in patients with cancer of unknown primary.

This trial will investigate the combination of bevacizumab, and erlotinib in patients with adenocarcinoma or poorly differentiated carcinoma of unknown primary site. Bevacizumab and erlotinib are relatively well-tolerated and have non-overlapping toxicity profiles. This trial will be one of the first clinical trials to evaluate a combination of targeted agents in the treatment of a solid tumor.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well gemcitabine works in treating patients with metastatic cancer of unknown primary.