Evaluation of Three Hour Infusion of Paclitaxel Plus Cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil in Patients With Advanced or Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN)
Evaluation of Three Hour Infusion of Paclitaxel Plus Cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil in Patients With Advanced or Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN)
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.
OBJECTIVES:
OUTLINE: Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by cisplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1 and fluorouracil IV over 24 hours on days 1-4. Courses repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients achieving complete response (CR) receive 3 additional courses beyond CR.
Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year and then every 6 months for 2 years.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 65 patients will be accrued for this study within 12 months.
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
Histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
No newly diagnosed nonmetastatic disease
Measurable or nonmeasurable disease
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
Age:
Performance status:
Life expectancy:
Hematopoietic:
Hepatic:
Renal:
Other:
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
Biologic therapy:
Chemotherapy:
Endocrine therapy:
Radiotherapy:
Surgery:
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