Cisplatin Treatment Options in Massachusetts

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known if gemcitabine is more effective when given alone or in combination with another chemotherapy drug in treating cancer of the pancreas. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to compare the effectiveness of gemcitabine given alone or in combination with other chemotherapy drugs in treating patients who have metastatic cancer of the pancreas. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare different combination chemotherapy regimens in treating patients who have advanced bladder cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as ifosfamide, cisplatin, paclitaxel, and vinblastine, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether ifosfamide and cisplatin are more effective when combined with paclitaxel or vinblastine in treating germ cell tumors. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin to see how well they work compared to vinblastine, ifosfamide, and cisplatin in treating men with progressive or recurrent metastatic germ cell tumors. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, irinotecan, carboplatin, and etoposide, use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of cisplatin and irinotecan followed by carboplatin, etoposide, and radiation therapy in treating patients who have limited-stage small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. It is not yet known whether surgery is more effective with or without chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer of the esophagus. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of surgery with or without combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy in treating patients who have cancer of the esophagus that can be surgically removed. Read Less

This trial is designed to test the efficacy of fluoxetine to improve patient's quality of life during chemotherapy. An innovative application of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor may modulate the effects of fatigue, anxiety and depression which worsen quality of life. Read Less

This study will compare the overall survival of participants with locally-advanced, Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with nonsquamous cell histology. Read Less

This study will compare the effects, good and/or bad, of chemotherapy (Gemcitabine and Cisplatin) with or without the addition of the chemotherapy drug Cetuximab to find out which treatment is better. Read Less

This research study is evaluating the use of radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy as a possible treatment for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer. Read Less

This research study is looking at an alternative way of delivering radiation therapy with protons. Protons are tiny particles with a positive charge that can be controlled to travel a certain distance and stop inside the body. In theory, this allows better control of where the radiation dose is delivered as compared to photons. Information from other research studies suggests that proton radiation may help to reduce unwanted side effects from radiation and allow an increase in radiation dose that increase the odds of tumor killing. The purpose of this study is to determine the safest dose of proton radiation therapy to give in combination with standard chemotherapy in participants with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Read Less

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 radiation therapy is more effective than combination chemotherapy in treating patients with cancer of the uterus. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy to see how well it works compared to combination chemotherapy in treating patients with cancer of the uterus. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving more than one chemotherapy drug with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving intrathecal and systemic combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy works in treating young patients with newly diagnosed central nervous system (CNS) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors. Read Less