Cisplatin Treatment Options in New Mexico

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 plus fluorouracil are more effective than paclitaxel plus cisplatin in treating patients with advanced head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of two combination chemotherapy regimens in treating patients with advanced 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. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which chemotherapy regimen is more effective for cervical cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of three different chemotherapy regimens in treating patients with stage IVB, recurrent, or persistent 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 chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying peripheral stem cell transplantation with treated peripheral stem cells following combination chemotherapy to see how well it works compared to peripheral stem cell transplantation with untreated peripheral stem cells following combination chemotherapy in treating patients with neuroblastoma. Read Less

This randomized phase II trial is studying cisplatin and radiation therapy together with or without erlotinib hydrochloride to compare how well they work in treating patients with stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. Erlotinib hydrochloride may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It may also make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Giving cisplatin and radiation therapy together with erlotinib hydrochloride may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether cisplatin and radiation therapy are more effective with or without erlotinib hydrochloride in treating 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. 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. 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

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 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

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. 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

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