Paclitaxel Treatment Options in North Carolina

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of paclitaxel in treating patients who have recurrent or persistent ovarian epithelial cancer 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. 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, such as capecitabine, carboplatin, and paclitaxel, 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 chemotherapy together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of capecitabine when given together with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and radiation therapy in treating patients with esophageal cancer or gastroesophageal junction 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. Colony-stimulating factors such as filgrastim may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help a person's immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus filgrastim in treating patients who have previously untreated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Read Less

Patients enrolled on this study will have been diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer which cannot be removed by an operation. The standard treatment for this disease is a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy; however, the best way to combine these treatments is not known. This study will examine if the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has an increased effect on slowing tumor growth with the addition of a drug called ZD1839. In this study, chemotherapy will be given initially (induction therapy) to try to control the spread of the cancer. Then radiation and chemotherapy will be given together. Receiving chemotherapy at the same time as radiation treatments can enhance the effect of the radiation. In this study, patients will receive a drug called ZD1839. In laboratory tests on cancer cells, ZD1839 has shown an additive effect when used in combination with radiation. ZD1839 has also been shown to slow or stop growth in tumors. The purpose of this study is to determine the side effects and effectiveness of using ZD1839 when used with radiation in this treatment regimen (induction chemotherapy followed by combination chemotherapy, ZD1839, and radiation therapy). 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. It is not yet known if surgery plus combination chemotherapy is more effective than surgery alone for non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of surgery with or without combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have 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. It is not yet known whether combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without filgrastim in treating breast cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combining doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel with or without filgrastim in treating women who have inflammatory or locally advanced breast cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in 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 paclitaxel, cisplatin, and liposomal doxorubicin in treating women who have undergone surgery for stage III ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, or primary peritoneal cancer. Read Less

Primary objective to determine the maximal tolerated (MTD) of dasatinib in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin during the first cycle of treatment. Secondary objectives to describe the toxicity of this combination of therapy; to describe the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics parameters related to this combination; to describe the clinical activity as defined as the response rate (complete and partial response rate) and progression-free survival \> 6 month; to compare the SRC pathway microarray signature in pre and post-treatment cancer specimens; to evaluate SRC pathway downstream substrates, FAX, paxcillin, and CRK-L in pre and post-treatment cancer specimens. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Paclitaxel and cisplatin may increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy by making the tumor cells more sensitive to the radiation. 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. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of paclitaxel when given with radiation therapy and cisplatin and to see how well they work in treating patients with cancer of the cervix that has spread to the lymph nodes in the pelvis and abdomen. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with a monoclonal antibody may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether cetuximab is more effective when given at the same time as chemotherapy or following chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well giving cetuximab at the same time as combination chemotherapy works compared to giving cetuximab after combination chemotherapy in treating patients with stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less