View clinical trials related to Cancer of the Head and Neck.
Filter by:Solid tumours contain varying degrees of hypoxia. Studies show hypoxia to be associated with poor local control and survival, as hypoxia is a cause of resistance to radio- and chemotherapy and the development of a more aggressive tumour. Previous attempts to measure hypoxia have been biased because the techniques have been invasive, not repeatable or difficult to apply on a routine basis. There is great interest in trying to measure hypoxia in tumours as this could lead to individualized hypoxia-modifying therapy and prediction of treatment response. Additionally the investigators' knowledge of change in hypoxia over time is limited, but of great interest as individualised treatment, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is emerging. 18F-FAZA, appears promising. It is a nitroimidazole, which gets trapped in hypoxic cells and can be detected by a positron emission therapy (PET) scan. Compared to other nitroimidazoles, 18F-FAZA has superior biokinetics and thereby is believed to provide a faster and clearer image of hypoxia. The investigators' hypothesis is that 18F-FAZA can be used as a prognostic marker in HNSCC.
The objectives for this study is as follows: - Primary: - To evaluate the progression-free survival of locoregionally advanced (stages III/IV) SCCHN patients undergoing postoperative chemoradiotherapy with panitumumab. - Secondary: - To evaluate the overall survival, event-free survival, and toxicities. - To correlate efficacy parameters with 1) EGFR and downstream pathway activation, 2) FcyR polymorphisms, and 3) serum cytokine profiles. More specifically, the aim is to demonstrate the usefulness of biomarkers (downstream signaling molecules, FcyR polymorphisms, or tumor and serum cytokine(s) in predicting progression-free survival in patients with SCCHN treated with the above treatment. Specific biomarkers that relate to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and angiogenesis, including EGFR, pEGFR, Src, pMAPK, pSTAT3, pSTAT5, pSTAT1, pAKT, p38, p21, p27, PARP, E-cadherin, p-ErbB3, Ki67, VEGF, and IL-8, using reverse phase protein microarrays (RPPA) will be tested in baseline archival paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. To collect tumor tissue from pretreatment biopsies for cytokine/chemokine and immune biomarker studies on tumor tissue. We plan to investigate the expression of pAKT, pMAPK, and other EGFR pathway-related markers as well angiogenesis biomarkers. In addition, EGFR polymorphisms will be studied in tumor tissue samples and serum. Additional studies may be performed in the future. Some of these studies may be performed by Amgen.
Questionnaire study to observe the incidence and pattern or nausea and vomiting in patients receiving combined chemotherapy and radiation. 83% of patients experience radiation therapy-induced vomiting; significant nausea and vomiting could develop with concurrent chemotherapy despite standard anti-nauseous medication prophylaxis.
The purpose of this study is to provide ZD1839 for those patients with locally advanced and/or metastatic non-operable non-small cell lung cancer (stage III or IV) or recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell head and neck cancer who receive the therapy on an expanded access basis due to their inability to meet eligibility criteria for on-going recruiting trials, inability to participate in other clinical trials (e.g., poor performance status, lack of geographic proximity), or because other medical interventions are not considered appropriate or acceptable.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the addition of the fully human EGFr antibody zalutumumab to primary curative radiotherapy increases locoregional control in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck.
This research is being done because we do not know the best treatment for advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck. These cancers have been treated with a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy in varying combination. When the tumor is inoperable, radiation therapy is used with or without chemotherapy in the hope of curing the tumor. Recently, it has become recognized as generalized knowledge that cancer cells are hypoxic (low oxygen concentration). Because of the low oxygen concentrations, many cancer treatments have not been successful. The theory behind this study is to give oxygen to patients prior to chemotherapy and radiation in hopes of generating greater results in killing cancer cells. The purpose of this study has two main objectives. The primary objective is to determine patient tolerance to each arm of the trial. The second objective is to determine the feasibility of treatment delivery and acute toxicities associated with each regimen. It is our intention to undertake a randomized and controlled trial should this Phase I trial prove successful in terms of patient tolerance.
The combination of oxaliplatin and gemcitabine is highly active in a wide variety of tumors including pancreatic, germ cell, breast, biliary, mesothelioma (Mitchell et al, 2002), and lung. In the last study which utilized days 1 and 8 gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 and days 1 and 8 oxaliplatin 65 mg/m2 in poor prognosis lung cancer patients (PS 1-3) the response rate was 16% with no incidence of febrile neutropenia. Toxicity is a crucial consideration when designing regimens intended for palliation. Toxicities associated with cisplatin can make it difficult to use in patients with Head and Neck Cancer (HNC), many of whom are elderly and have comorbidities. In addition, many patients with metastatic HNC have previously received cisplatin during neoadjuvant/adjuvant therapy, or as part of their primary chemoradiation treatment. When these patients recur, it is possible their tumors have innate or acquired cisplatin resistance. Oxaliplatin is likely to be better tolerated than cisplatin containing regimens, especially with regards to neurotoxicity. Gemcitabine has shown promising activity as a single agent and in combination chemotherapy in the first line treatment of patients with HNC. A combination chemotherapy regimen using oxaliplatin and gemcitabine administered once every week is logical and worth exploring in patients with metastatic and recurrent head and neck cancer to improve the toxicity profile and patient monitoring while maintaining efficacy of the chemotherapy regimen.
This is a Phase II study of imatinib (Glivec) administered as a daily oral treatment in patients with recurrent/metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck overexpressing KIT.
The purpose of this trial is to determine the ability of positron emission tomography (PET) to detect residual cancer in neck lymph nodes of patients following curative treatment with radiation therapy for squamous cell cancer arising in the head and neck. Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergo treatment of curative intent; patients who are node positive (N2 N3 stages) undergo standard management which includes post-radiation planned neck dissection but two thirds of patients end up not having evidence of residual disease in neck dissection specimens; these patients could have avoided surgery. However, currently used standard tests, like computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot reliably predict who is post-radiation disease free.