View clinical trials related to Head and Neck Cancer.
Filter by:The goal of this clinical research study is to compare armodafinil, bupropion, and minocycline when given alone or in combination. Researchers want to learn about the safety and level of effectiveness of these drugs in controlling symptoms, such as the side effects of chemoradiation, when given to patients with head and neck cancer.
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. Giving radiation therapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. It is not yet known whether intensity-modulated radiation therapy or 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is more effective in decreasing hearing loss in patients undergoing radiation therapy for parotid gland cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying intensity-modulated radiation therapy to see how well it works compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy in decreasing hearing loss in patients who have undergone surgery for parotid tumors.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with fluorine-18 fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) has been used for several years as a non invasive imaging technique to study tumor hypoxia. Several experimental and clinical studies have indicated that FMISO uptake of tissues is correlated with tissue oxygen tension and that FMSO PET allows non-invasive differentiation between hypoxic and normoxic tumors. Currently, FMISO-PET represents the best characterized and validated noninvasive hypoxia imaging technique. Nevertheless, clinical studies have also shown the limitations of FMISO PET. Accumulation of FMISO in hypoxic tumors is relatively low, resulting in a low contrast between hypoxic tumors and surrounding normal tissues. In addition, imaging needs to be started relatively late after tracer injection (about 3 hours post-injection), when a significant percentage of the fluorine-18 label has already decayed and the count statistics of the PET images are relatively low. Because of these limitations, FMISO PET is still only used at a few research centers, despite high clinical interest in hypoxia imaging.
RATIONALE: Gathering information over time about patients' quality-of-life and satisfaction with care may help doctors plan the best treatment and help patients live more comfortably. PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying quality-of-life assessment in patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiation therapy.
RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tumor tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. It may also help doctors understand how patients respond to treatment. PURPOSE: This research study is studying biomarkers of response in blood and tumor tissue samples from patients with unresectable stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck previously treated with cetuximab, cisplatin, and radiation therapy.
RATIONALE: Studying samples of tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research study is studying biomarkers in tissue samples from patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell cancer of the head and neck previously treated with cisplatin with or without cetuximab.
This protocol was opened to collect long term survival information on subjects enrolled in a previous study which evaluated the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and concomitant chemoradiotherapy with organ preserving optional surgery on overall survival, time to progression, pattern of disease recurrence in patient with locally advanced head and neck cancer. The last surviving subject was last treated in 1989, and was lost to follow up in 2010.
The purpose of this study is to explore the activity of ZD1839 added to concurrent chemoradiotherapy and as adjuvant monotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Activity is described in terms of response rate (complete responses only).
The purpose of this study is to find out what effects (good and bad) ZD1839 has on one's squamous cell head and neck cancer. The research is being done because currently no effective treatment exists for metastatic (spread of cancer cells from one area of the body to another) or recurrent squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. The purpose of this study is to find out if ZD1839 can shrink tumors or cause tumors to stop growing for a period of time.
This trial is for patients with colon cancer, head and neck cancer and lung cancer that has not responded to standard therapy. Cetuximab targets a receptor on cancer cells called the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor or EGFR. It is thought that this receptor is turned "on" in some cancers, enabling cancer cells to divide and grow. Blocking this receptor can turn this signal off. Cetuximab blocks this receptor from the outside of cancer cells. It is thought that cancer cells can turn this signal back on by the EGFR joining with a related receptor called ErbB2. Lapatinib blocks both EGFR and ErbB2 from the inside of cancer cells. In laboratory experiments it has been found that combining drugs that target both EGFR and ErbB2 might work better in turning this signal back off. The purpose of this study is to determine the maximum dosages that patients can tolerate when these two medicines are given at the same time. In addition, in order to be on this trial, patients must agree to have a tumor biopsy before starting treatment on this study and 21 days after starting treatment. These biopsies are a required part of the study. Patients must also agree to have blood drawn for research testing to see whether genetic differences between patients explain different reactions to and side effects from, these medicines.