S0427, Combination Chemotherapy & RT in Treating Patients With Stage III or Stage IV Cancer of the Oropharynx
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2007-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil, work
in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by
stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells.
Giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. It
is not yet known whether giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy is
more effective than giving cisplatin together with radiation therapy in treating cancer of
the oropharynx.
PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying combination chemotherapy and radiation
therapy to see how well they work compared to cisplatin and radiation therapy in treating
patients with stage III or stage IV cancer of the oropharynx.