Patients receive induction chemotherapy comprising docetaxel IV over 1 hour and cisplatin IV over 1 hour on day 1 and fluorouracil IV continuously on days 1-4. Treatment repeats every 3 weeks for up to 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Beginning 3-4 weeks after completion of induction chemotherapy, patients receive cetuximab IV once weekly for 7 weeks. Beginning 1 week after the first dose of cetuximab, patients undergo concurrent intensity-modulated radiotherapy or conventional 3-dimensional radiotherapy once or twice daily 5-6 days a week for up to 6 weeks. Patients with persistent disease undergo salvage resection of the primary tumor and/or neck dissection approximately 3 months after the completion of radiotherapy.