Conditions: Head and Neck Cancer
Keywords: recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx stage IV verrucous carcinoma of the larynx recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx recurrent verrucous carcinoma of the larynx recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the lip and oral cavity stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the lip and oral cavity recurrent verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity stage IV verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity metastatic squamous neck cancer with occult primary squamous cell carcinoma recurrent metastatic squamous neck cancer with occult primary untreated metastatic squamous neck cancer with occult primary recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity recurrent salivary gland cancer salivary gland squamous cell carcinoma stage IV salivary gland cancer
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 41
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as irinotecan 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 more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: To determine if CPT-11 given together with cisplatin is effective in treating recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.

Detailed description:
OBJECTIVES:

* Evaluate the efficacy of irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin in patients with local-regionally recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
* Evaluate the toxicity of irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin in these patients.
* Determine the palliative effect of irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin on head and neck cancer symptoms using the Vanderbilt Cancer Center (VICC) Head and Neck Cancer Symptom Survey.

OUTLINE: Patients receive irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 60 minutes and cisplatin IV on days 1, 8, 22, and 29. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients complete the Vanderbilt Cancer Center (VICC) Head and Neck Cancer Symptom Survey at baseline, before each course, at the completion of study therapy, and then at each follow-up visit.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed every 6 weeks for 1 year and then every 3 months thereafter.

Arms:
arm 1: None

Interventions: intervention 1: cisplatin intervention 2: irinotecan hydrochloride
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Starting dose 30 mg/m2 Dose level -1 20 mg/m2 intervention 2: 50 mg/m2 IV over 60 minutes, plus Cisplatin 30mig/m2 IV, repeated weekly for two weeks. followed by a one-week rest. This 3-week schedule given two times to equal one 6-week cycle. Maximum of 6 cycles.

Protocol document: