Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Following Surgery in Treating Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

Overview

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 chemotherapy with radiation therapy following surgery may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have undergone surgery for stage III or stage IV head and neck cancer.

Full Title of Study: “Phase II Early Postoperative Paclitaxel Followed By Paclitaxel And Cisplatin Concurrent With Radiation Therapy For Resected, High Risk Squamous Carcinoma Of The Head And Neck”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: N/A
    • Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Treatment
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: February 2004

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES: – Determine the feasibility of adjuvant paclitaxel followed by radiotherapy with concurrent paclitaxel and cisplatin in patients undergoing gross complete resection of high-risk stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. – Determine the disease-free and overall survival of patients treated with this regimen. – Determine the acute and chronic toxicity of this regimen in these patients. – Determine the patterns of failure in patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: Patients receive adjuvant therapy beginning 7-14 days after gross total surgical resection. Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 1 hour on days 1, 8, and 15. Beginning on approximately day 22, patients undergo radiotherapy once daily 5 days a week for 5.5-6.5 weeks. Patients also receive paclitaxel IV over 1 hour followed by cisplatin IV over 1-3 hours on days 43, 50, and 57. Treatment continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 60 patients will be accrued for this study within 11 months.

Interventions

  • Drug: cisplatin
  • Drug: paclitaxel
  • Procedure: conventional surgery
  • Radiation: radiation therapy

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Experimental: Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy
    • Early post-operative paclitaxel followed by paclitaxel and cisplatin concurrent with radiation therapy for resected head and neck cancer.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Patient tolerance of the treatment regimen
    • Time Frame: From registration to end of treatment

Secondary Measures

  • Frequency of grade 5 and acute non-hematologic grade 4 toxicity
    • Time Frame: From start of induction chemotherapy to 90 days after start of radiation therapy
  • Frequency of other acute and late toxicity
    • Time Frame: From start of induction chemotherapy to last follow-up
  • Local-regional control
    • Time Frame: From registration to date of failure (local or regional progression) or death or last follow-up. Analysis occurs after patients have been followed for at least 2 years.
  • Disease-free survival
    • Time Frame: From registration to date of failure (local, regional, or distant progression, or second primary or death) or last follow-up. Analysis occurs after patients have been followed for at least 2 years.
  • Overall survival
    • Time Frame: From registration to date of death or last follow-up. Analysis occurs after patients have been followed for at least 2 years.

Participating in This Clinical Trial

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Histologically proven stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx – Gross total resection completed or planned – No less than gross total resection – No disease requiring staging surgery – Prior gross total resection completed with one or more of the following risk factors: – Histologically proven multiple lymph node metastases – At least 1 lymph node with extracapsular extension of tumor – Positive margin(s) of resection, including mucosal margins and/or soft tissue or deep margins of resection OR – Gross total resection planned within 14 days of study enrollment with anticipated need for postoperative radiotherapy for one of the following: – Multiple clinically/radiologically evident lymph nodes of at least 1.5 cm – Single clinically/radiologically evident lymph node of at least 3 cm – Histologically proven lymph node metastases – No T3, N0 glottic cancer – No nasopharyngeal or paranasal sinus carcinoma – No distant metastases PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: – 21 and over Performance status: – Zubrod 0-1 Life expectancy: – Not specified Hematopoietic: – White blood cell (WBC) at least 3,000/mm^3 – Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3 Hepatic: – Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) – Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) no greater than 1.5 times ULN Renal: – Creatinine no greater than 1.5 ULN Cardiovascular: – No unstable angina – No myocardial infarction within the past 6 months unless successfully treated with coronary artery bypass graft or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty – No uncontrolled arrhythmia – No second or third degree heart block or other clinically significant conduction system abnormality unless pacemaker is in place Pulmonary: – No severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring 3 or more hospitalizations within the past year Other: – Not pregnant or nursing – Negative pregnancy test – Fertile patients must use effective contraception – No pre-existing grade 2 or greater peripheral neurotoxicity – No other prior malignancy within the past 3 years except low-risk nonmelanomatous skin cancer; carcinoma in situ (e.g., breast, cervix, or bladder); or stage T1-2, low to moderate grade prostate cancer – No significant wound infection – No fistula – No major wound dehiscence – Nutritional status adequate PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: – Concurrent colony-stimulating factors for neutropenic fever during study chemoradiotherapy allowed Chemotherapy: – No prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: – Not specified Radiotherapy: – See Disease Characteristics – No prior radiotherapy to head and neck Surgery: – See Disease Characteristics

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 21 Years

Maximum Age: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
  • Collaborator
    • National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Randal S. Weber, MD, Study Chair, Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Citations Reporting on Results

Rosenthal DI, Harris J, Forastiere AA, Weber RS, Ridge JA, Myers JN, Garden AS, Kuettel MR, Sidhu K, Schultz CJ, Trotti A, Ang KK. Early postoperative paclitaxel followed by concurrent paclitaxel and cisplatin with radiation therapy for patients with resected high-risk head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: report of the phase II trial RTOG 0024. J Clin Oncol. 2009 Oct 1;27(28):4727-32. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2008.21.4197. Epub 2009 Aug 31.

Rosenthal DJ, Harris J, Forastiere AA, et al.: Early postoperative paclitaxel followed by paclitaxel and cisplatin concurrent with radiation therapy (RT) (phase II trial RTOG H-0024) is well tolerated for patients with resected, high-risk squamous carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). [Abstract] Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 60 (Suppl 1): A-1111, S322, 2004.

Clinical trials entries are delivered from the US National Institutes of Health and are not reviewed separately by this site. Please see the identifier information above for retrieving further details from the government database.

At TrialBulletin.com, we keep tabs on over 200,000 clinical trials in the US and abroad, using medical data supplied directly by the US National Institutes of Health. Please see the About and Contact page for details.