Cisplatin Treatment Options in Virginia

RATIONALE: 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. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Vandetanib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It is not yet known whether giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy is more effective with or without vandetanib in treating patients with head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy to see how well it works compared with giving chemotherapy and radiation therapy together with vandetanib in treating patients with high-risk stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Everolimus 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. Giving chemotherapy together with everolimus before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. It is not yet known whether cisplatin and paclitaxel are more effective when given together with or without everolimus in treating patients with breast cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well cisplatin and paclitaxel work when given together with or without everolimus in treating patients with stage II or stage III breast cancer. 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 tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of cisplatin and radiation therapy in treating patients with stage IV cancer of the head and neck. Read Less

In this trial, subjects with chemo-naive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were assigned to chemotherapy using a genomic-based predictor for platinum sensitivity. After an amendment dated 1/25/2010, subjects with squamous cell NSCLC sensitive to cisplatin received cisplatin/gemcitabine and if resistant to cisplatin received docetaxel/gemcitabine. Subjects with non-squamous cell NSCLC sensitive to cisplatin received cisplatin/pemetrexed and if resistant to cisplatin received pemetrexed/gemcitabine. The primary objective of this trial was to prospectively validate the genomic-based prediction model through separate evaluation of the one-year progression-free survival (PFS) of the cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant cohorts. Secondary objectives included: assessment of overall time to progressive disease, quality of life and evaluation of drug sensitivity patterns of cisplatin and pemetrexed. 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

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. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which chemotherapy regimen is more effective when combined with radiation therapy for treating medulloblastoma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare two combination chemotherapy treatments plus radiation therapy in treating children with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma. 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 radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of etoposide plus radiation therapy followed by combination chemotherapy in treating children with newly diagnosed advanced medulloblastoma. Read Less

This study assigned subjects to either cisplatin/vinorelbine or cisplatin/pemetrexed chemotherapy using a genomic based expression profile to determine chemotherapy sensitivity in completely resected early stage non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The vinorelbine-sensitive tumors group received Vinorelbine followed by cisplatin, while the pemetrexed-sensitive tumors group received pemetrexed followed by cisplatin. The primary objective of this trial was to determine whether genomic-based adjuvant chemotherapy treatment increased the 2-year progression-free survival rate in completely resected patients with NSCLC compared to historic controls. Secondary objectives included: 1) estimation of the percentage of completely resected NSCLC tumors that can be adequately analyzed and used to direct specific adjuvant chemotherapy; 2) estimation of the proportion of patients who are assigned to treatment with vinorelbine and pemetrexed; 3) evaluation of drug sensitivity patterns of cisplatin and pemetrexed in both treatment arms; 4) description of the overall median survival experience of treated patients; and 5) assessment of patient understanding and perceptions of participating in a clinical trial evaluating cancer genomics for adjuvant treatment of early stage lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the side effects and best dose of zoledronic acid when given together with combination chemotherapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed metastatic osteosarcoma. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to look for an improvement in progression free survival with the combination of pemetrexed, carboplatin (or cisplatin) and cetuximab in participants with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. 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 doctors to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating infants with malignant brain or spinal cord tumors. Read Less