Paclitaxel Treatment Options in Illinois

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy such as gemcitabine, carboplatin, and paclitaxel 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 in treating non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of different combination chemotherapy regimens in treating patients who have stage IIIB, stage IV, or recurrent 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 radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have previously untreated anaplastic thyroid 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: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV breast 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 whether ifosfamide alone is more effective than ifosfamide plus paclitaxel in treating patients with cancer of the uterus. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of ifosfamide with or without paclitaxel in treating patients with advanced, refractory, or recurrent cancer of the uterus. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy consisting of doxorubicin and cisplatin with or without paclitaxel and G-CSF in treating patients who have stage III, stage IV, or recurrent endometrial 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 or combining chemotherapy with surgery may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel and cisplatin with or without surgery in treating patients with stage III ovarian epithelial 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 I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating patients with previously untreated stage III or stage IV ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer. Read Less

Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of surgery with or without combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have stage I non-small cell lung cancer. 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 surgery is more effective with or without chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. 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. Cisplatin and paclitaxel may make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) and giving them with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether giving radiation therapy together with combination chemotherapy is more effective than giving combination chemotherapy alone in treating head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy and combination chemotherapy to see how well they work compared to combination chemotherapy alone in treating patients with recurrent head and neck cancer that cannot be removed by 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. 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 combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective for non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of carboplatin plus paclitaxel with or without tirapazamine in treating patients who have stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining monoclonal antibody therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel in treating patients who have advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less