Cisplatin Treatment Options in Massachusetts

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

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

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. Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy with vaccine therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy with vaccine therapy in treating patients who have limited-stage small cell lung cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness, safety and side effects of two chemotherapy drugs (gemcitabine and cisplatin) when combined with surgery after chemotherapy for patients with upper urinary tract cancer. The hypothesis is that undergoing chemotherapy prior to surgery will have a beneficial effect on prognosis and may improve overall survival as in patients with bladder cancer, and will allow better tolerance of chemotherapy than if it were given after surgery. 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 combining tirapazamine with cisplatin in treating patients who have recurrent ovarian epithelial or primary peritoneal 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. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Imaging procedures, such as fludeoxyglucose F18 positron emission tomography (\^18FDG-PET), may improve the ability to detect disease progression and help doctors predict a patient's response to treatment and plan more effective treatment. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well \^18FDG-PET imaging works in detecting disease progression and determining response to treatment in patients who are undergoing chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

The main purpose of this study is to determine the short and long term side effects of a very intensive treatment, which includes combinations of chemotherapy drugs followed by radiation therapy and two transplants supported by peripheral blood progenitor cells (stem cells), for children with advanced stage neuroblastoma and sarcomas. Read Less

The purpose of this research study is to determine the safest and most effective dose of 5-FU that can be given with docetaxel (Taxotere), Cisplatin and cetuximab to patients with newly diagnosed locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. We will also be studying the toxicity of this regimen of 4 drugs and the tumor response. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as pixantrone, cytarabine, methylprednisolone, and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have relapsed aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read Less