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. Colony-stimulating factors such as filgrastim may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help a person's immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of paclitaxel, cisplatin, and filgrastim combined with radiation therapy in treating patients who have locally recurrent head and neck cancer and have received previous treatment with radiation therapy. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy such as cisplatin and paclitaxel 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. Cisplatin and paclitaxel may make the tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy and may kill any tumor cells remaining after surgery. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of cisplatin, paclitaxel, and radiation therapy with or without fluorouracil in treating patients who have stage IB, stage IIB, or stage IIIB stomach cancer that has been removed during surgery. 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. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effect on the body when combining irinotecan and cisplatin with radiation therapy in treating patients who have limited-stage small cell lung cancer that could not be completely removed during surgery. 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. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy following surgery may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have undergone surgery for stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer. Read Less

Anal cancer is a relatively uncommon disease and there is currently no standard chemotherapy treatment for patients with inoperable locally recurrent or metastatic disease. The aim of this phase II study is compare two well known and largely used chemotherapy regimens - Cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil vs Carboplatin plus Paclitaxel. The result of this study will set a standard of care for this disease and provide useful information for future Phase III trials. Read Less

In this research study the investigators are looking for the highest dose of a stereotactic radiation boost that can be given safely. Because stereotactic radiation is so precise, the investigators are testing whether it can be used to increase the dose to the primary tumor without significantly increasing the side effects the participant experiences; the goal is to improve the likelihood of killing the tumor. Read Less

RATIONALE: Interferon alfa may interfere with the growth of cancer cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Interleukin-2 may stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill melanoma cells. It is not yet known whether interferon alfa is more effective with or without combination chemotherapy and interleukin-2 for melanoma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of interferon alfa with or without combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine, plus interleukin-2, in treating patients who have melanoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Thalidomide may stop the growth of tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. It is not yet known if combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without thalidomide for multiple myeloma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without thalidomide in treating patients who have refractory multiple myeloma. Read Less

This phase II trial is studying how well giving sorafenib together with docetaxel and cisplatin works in treating patients with metastatic or locally advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer that cannot be removed by surgery. Sorafenib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving sorafenib together with docetaxel and cisplatin may kill more tumor cells. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to find out what effects (good and bad) the combination of three chemotherapy drugs (cetuximab, cisplatin, and irinotecan) have on esophageal cancer when given with radiation therapy. Read Less

This study will look at the safety and efficacy of treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have not yet received systemic chemotherapy. Previous local treatment of hepatic lesions is permitted The treatment will use a combination of three FDA approved chemotherapy drugs, Gemcitabine, Cisplatin and Sorafenib. Sorafenib is FDA approved for the treatment of hepatocellular cancer, gemcitabine and cisplatin are not approved for the treatment of hepatocellular cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. Chemoprotective drugs such as dexrazoxane may protect normal cells from the side effects of chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Phase III trial to study the effectiveness of three combination chemotherapy regimens plus dexrazoxane in treating patients who have newly diagnosed nonmetastatic osteosarcoma. Read Less