Radiation Therapy and Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2002-10-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

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.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Yale University
• Treatments: Mitomycin; Mitomycins; Porfiromycin

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Biopsy-proven epidermoid carcinoma of the following head and neck sites: Hypopharynx Oral cavity Larynx Oropharynx Nasopharynx Unknown primary origin with positive head and neck nodes TNM Stages I-IV or recurrent disease with no distant metastases, i.e.: T1 N0 M0 T1 N1-3 M0 T2-4 any N M0 T0 N1-3 M0 No carcinoma of the true vocal cord or other condition with greater than 90% probability of cure

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 20 to 80 Performance status: Not specified Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,000 Platelets at least 100,000 Hct at least 25% Hepatic: Bilirubin less than 1.5 mg/dl Renal: Creatinine less than 2 mg/dl OR BUN less than 40 mg/dl Other: No other serious, life-threatening illness No second malignancy within 5 years except nonmelanomatous skin cancer outside the planned radiotherapy field

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: At least 3 years since chemotherapy No prior radiotherapy to areas of current disease