View clinical trials related to Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms.
Filter by:Significant evidence has shown that radiation therapy for patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) can cause swallowing abnormality. Based on our prior cross-sectional study for 184 NPC patients from 1995 to 1999, the findings of videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) revealed continuous deterioration of swallowing function of these patients even many years after radiation. We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the longitudinal change of swallowing function based on VFSS before, one month, one year and two years after completing radiation therapy. The amount of saliva was measured at the same time of VFSS study to test the relationship of decreased amount of saliva and swallowing function. Comparison of serial VFSS studies in NPC patients (n=84) and normal volunteers (n=38) were obtained. We assume that this study may reveal a complete understanding of changing swallowing patterns in the course of radiation therapy of patients with NPC. From this study, NPC patients can understand their own swallowing function. Therefore, the information may enable for earlier intervention of swallowing training or correction to avoid morbidity of radiation therapy in this patient group.
One of the side effects of standard radiation therapy for cancer of the nasopharynx is a permanent lessening of normal mouth moisture (saliva). This reduction in saliva is important because it causes a feeling of dry mouth, and has been shown to increase the risk of dental cavities and infections; change or decrease the ability to taste certain foods; and make chewing and swallowing food more difficult. Recent technical advances in radiation therapy offer the possibility of shielding a portion of one of the major salivary glands (parotid gland) from receiving a dose of radiation that would eliminate its ability to produce saliva, while still treating all sites of known cancer effectively. Recently, cancer researchers in Ann Arbor, Michigan used this new treatment technique to treat patients with head and neck cancers (but none with nasopharyngeal cancer), and found that patients treated in this manner still had significant saliva production from the spared gland. This study will try to use the treatment planning technique called intensity-modulated radiation therapy to protect a portion of one parotid gland while treating all known and suspected areas of cancer to full radiation doses.
This phase II trial studies how well lapatinib ditosylate works in treating patients with metastatic or recurrent head and neck cancer. Lapatinib ditosylate may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.
This randomized phase II trial is studying bortezomib and irinotecan to see how well they work compared to bortezomib alone in treating patients with locally recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Bortezomib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as irinotecan, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving bortezomib together with irinotecan may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether giving bortezomib together with irinotecan is more effective than bortezomib alone in treating head and neck cancer.
This randomized phase I/II trial studies the side effects, best way to give, and best dose of erlotinib and bevacizumab when given with cetuximab and how well giving erlotinib and cetuximab together with or without bevacizumab works in treating patients with metastatic or unresectable kidney, colorectal, head and neck, pancreatic, or non-small cell lung cancer. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab and bevacizumab, 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. Cetuximab and bevacizumab may also stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Giving erlotinib together with cetuximab and/or bevacizumab may kill more tumor cells.
Lapatinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for their growth. This phase II trial is studying how well lapatinib works in treating patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer.
Sorafenib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. It may also stop the growth of tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. This phase II trial is studying how well sorafenib works in treating patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cance
This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of alvespimycin hydrochloride in treating patients with metastatic or unresectable solid tumors. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as alvespimycin hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.
To determine the safety of the combination of CD45 monoclonal antibody (Mab) followed by intravenous injection of EBV specific CTL in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer. To compare the expansion, persistence and anti-tumor effects of the EBV specific CTL given after CD45 Mab administration with that observed in our first study. To obtain preliminary information on the safety and response to an extended dosage regimen of EBV-specific CTL in patients, who have stable disease or a partial response after the initial dose of EBV-specific 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.