Cisplatin Treatment Options in United Kingdom

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 one regimen will require patients to spend more time in the hospital than the other regimen for treatment of chemotherapy-related side effects. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the hospitalization rates of patients who are receiving gemcitabine combined with cisplatin with that of patients receiving gemcitabine combined with carboplatin for unresectable stage III or stage IV non-small cell 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. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving radiation therapy after chemotherapy may kill any remaining tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with or without radiation therapy works in treating children with brain tumors. Read Less

RATIONALE: Gathering information about how young patients with ependymoma respond to standard combination chemotherapy and learning about the long-term effects of this treatment may help doctors plan better treatment. PURPOSE: This phase III trial is observing young patients with ependymoma undergoing standard combination chemotherapy. Read Less

RATIONALE: Sometimes, after surgery, the tumor may not need additional treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. 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. Giving combination chemotherapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase III trial is studying how well observation and/or combination chemotherapy works after surgery or biopsy in treating young patients with extracranial germ cell tumors. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as lomustine, vincristine, and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving radiation therapy together with combination chemotherapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying giving radiation therapy together with combination chemotherapy to see how well it works in treating young patients with metastatic medulloblastoma who have undergone surgery. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin and doxorubicin, 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. Thalidomide may stop the growth of liver cancer by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Chemoembolization kills tumor cells by blocking the blood flow to the tumor and keeping chemotherapy drugs near the tumor. Giving combination chemotherapy, thalidomide, and chemoembolization before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Giving thalidomide together with chemotherapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells and prevent the tumor from coming back. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy and thalidomide together with chemoembolization works in treating younger patients undergoing surgery for newly diagnosed liver 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. Giving combination chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving radiation therapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain. It is not yet know whether combination chemotherapy followed by surgery alone is more effective than combination chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiation therapy in treating neuroblastoma. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying combination chemotherapy followed by surgery to see how well it works compared to combination chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiation therapy in treating young patients with stage II or stage III neuroblastoma. 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. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Giving chemotherapy and radiation therapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. Sometimes, the tumor may not need any treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with surgery and radiation therapy works in treating infants with neuroblastoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as carboplatin, etoposide, ifosfamide, and 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. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase III trial is studying combination chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy to see how well it works compared to radiation therapy alone in treating patients with germ cell tumors in the brain. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin and temozolomide, 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 phase II trial is studying how well giving cisplatin together with temozolomide works in treating young patients with malignant glioma. Read Less

The purpose of this trial is to estimate progression free survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer that have not received chemotherapy in this setting. Read Less

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known if fluorouracil plus radiation therapy is more effective with or without additional chemotherapy in treating anal cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of fluorouracil plus radiation therapy with or without additional chemotherapy in treating patients who have primary anal cancer. Read Less