Docetaxel Based Chemotherapy Plus or Minus Induction Chemotherapy to Decrease Events in Head and Neck Cancer (DeCIDE)
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The combined use of chemotherapeutic drugs with radiation has proven to be effective in
improving overall survival and local control among patients with locally advanced head and
neck cancer. Induction chemotherapy given before receiving local treatment has been shown to
reduce the rate of distant failure. Many drugs have been found to prevent tumor cells from
growing or dividing, although it has yet to be determined which agent, or specific
combination of agents, is most effective in treating head and neck cancer. Docetaxel is a
drug which has been reported to show promising activity in Phase II head and neck cancer
studies. Therefore, the purpose of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of induction
chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy versus the same chemoradiotherapy alone in
patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.