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. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have metastatic or recurrent head and neck cancer. Read Less

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 combination chemotherapy given after surgery is more effective than surgery alone for non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy following surgery with that of surgery alone in treating patients who have stage I, stage II, or stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RAD001 is approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat advanced kidney cancer. This drug has also been used in other research studies to evaluate its effectiveness in other cancers. Information from these research studies suggests that RAD001 may help to decrease the growth and development of tumor cells by reducing the blood supply that tumors need to grow. In this research study, we are trying to determine the safety of RAD001 when given to people with locally advanced head and neck cancer in combination with cisplatin and radiation. We are also looking for the highest dose of RAD001 that can be given to people safely. 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 II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as carboplatin, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, and cisplatin, 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 chemotherapy before radiation therapy, and combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy, may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of neoadjuvant gemcitabine, paclitaxel, and carboplatin followed by cisplatin and radiation therapy in treating patients who have locally advanced or recurrent carcinoma (cancer) of the urothelium. Read Less

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of HGS1036 when used in combination with the standard chemotherapeutic regimens paclitaxel plus carboplatin, cisplatin plus etoposide, or docetaxel. 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. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of two different combination chemotherapy regimens in treating patients who have stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy is more effective than giving cisplatin together with radiation therapy in treating cancer of the oropharynx. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy to see how well they work compared to cisplatin and radiation therapy in treating patients with stage III or stage IV cancer of the oropharynx. 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 more than one chemotherapy drug with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have limited-stage small cell lung cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to find the highest dose of the combination of taxotere, cisplatin and CPT-11, that can be given without causing severe side effects. We also want to test the safety of this drug combination and see what effects (good and bad) it has on patients with advanced cancer for which there is no known curable treatment. 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. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy consisting of tirapazamine plus cisplatin in treating patients who have metastatic, recurrent, or refractory cervical 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. It is not yet known whether cisplatin is more effective when combined with paclitaxel or gemcitabine in treating cervical cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of cisplatin combined with paclitaxel to that of cisplatin combined with gemcitabine in treating women who have recurrent, persistent, or metastatic cervical cancer. Read Less