Clinical trial · Interventional
Fluorouracil, Hydroxyurea, Cetuximab and Twice-daily Intensity Radiation Therapy for Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
Phase II Study of Concomitant Fluorouracil, Hydroxyurea, Cetuximab and Hyperfractionated Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
For advanced head and neck cancer, combined radiation and chemotherapy prevents recurrences and for many patients, improves survival. While combined cisplatin and radiation or cetuximab and radiation is more effective than radiation alone, approximately 50% of these patients will still recur. A more aggressive approach may be needed for these patients to prevent recurrence and death. The strategy of using multiple chemotherapy drugs with radiation given twice a day has been tested at Mount Sinai and University of Chicago. Approximately 80% of patients are cured with this strategy. While cure rates are higher than standard chemotherapy and radiation and the treatment is tolerable, side effects during treatment are common. We propose replacing a chemotherapy drug with a less toxic, targeted therapy called cetuximab. Our goal is to reduce toxicity while maintaining or improving cure rates for these patients.
Conditions
Conditions (6)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer of the Larynx | Malignant Laryngeal Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Cancer of the Oral Cavity | Malignant Oral Cavity Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.80 |
| Cancer of the Pharynx | Malignant Pharyngeal Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Head and Neck Cancer | Malignant Head and Neck Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Nose Neoplasms | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms | Paranasal Sinus Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
Interventions
Interventions (4)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cetuximab | Drug | Cetuximab | ALIAS |
| Fluorouracil | Drug | Fluorouracil | ALIAS |
| Hydroxyurea | Drug | Hydroxyurea | ALIAS |
| radiotherapy | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
- description
- Patients with stage IVA and IVB or high-risk stage III squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck
- interventionNames
- Drug: Cetuximab
- Drug: Hydroxyurea
- Drug: Fluorouracil
- Procedure: radiotherapy
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Llocoregional Recurrence
- timeFrame
- 2 years
- description
- Percentage of Participants with Loco-regional recurrence.
- measure
- Survival
- timeFrame
- 2 years
- description
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18 years or older * Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell or poorly differentiated carcinomas of the head and neck or lymphoepithelioma * No prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy * Prior surgical therapy will consist only of incisional or excisional biopsy, and organ sparing procedures such as debulking of airway-compromising tumors or neck dissection in a patient with an existing primary tumor * Karnofsky performance status of \>= 70% * Intact organ and bone marrow function * Obtained informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Demonstration of metastatic disease (i.e. M1 disease). * Patients with a history of severe allergic reaction to docetaxel or other drugs formulated with polysorbate 80. History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, or hydroxyurea. * Other coexisting malignancies or malignancies diagnosed within the previous 3 years with the exception of basal cell carcinoma, cervical cancer in situ, and other treated malignancies with no evidence of disease for at least 3 years. * Prior surgical therapy other than incisional or excisional biopsy and organ-sparing procedures such as debulking of airway-compromising tumors or neck dissection in a patient with an unknown primary tumor. Any non-biopsy procedure must have taken place less than 3 months from initiating protocol treatment. * Incomplete healing from previous surgery * Pregnancy or breast feeding (men and women of child-bearing potential are eligible but must consent to using effective contraception during therapy and for at least 3 months after completing therapy) * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure (CHF), unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Patients with clinically significant pulmonary dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, or any history of clinically significant CHF are excluded. The exclusion of patients with active coronary artery disease will be at the discretion of the attending physician. * Uncontrolled active infection unless curable with treatment of their cancer.
References
Publications (1)
- RESULTKao J, Genden EM, Gupta V, Policarpio EL, Burri RJ, Rivera M, Gurudutt V, Som PM, Teng M, Packer SH. Phase 2 trial of concurrent 5-fluorouracil, hydroxyurea, cetuximab, and hyperfractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer. Cancer. 2011 Jan 15;117(2):318-26. doi: 10.1002/cncr.25374. Epub 2010 Sep 9. PMID 20830768