Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer clinical trials at UCSF

This phase II/III trial studies how well radiation therapy works with durvalumab or cetuximab in treating patients with head and neck cancer that has spread to a local and/or regional area of the body who cannot take cisplatin. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as durvalumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody that may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. It is not known if radiation therapy with durvalumab will work better than the usual therapy of radiation therapy with cetuximab in treating patients with head and neck cancer.

This phase II trial investigates how well sodium thiosulfate works in preventing ototoxicity (hearing loss/damage) in patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) who are undergoing a chemoradiation. Sodium thiosulfate is a type of medication used to treat cyanide poisoning and to help lessen the side effects from cisplatin. Chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. The purpose of this trial is to find out whether it is feasible to give sodium thiosulfate 4 hours after each cisplatin infusion along with standard of care radiation therapy in patients with head and neck cancer. Giving sodium thiosulfate after cisplatin may help decrease the risk of hearing loss.