This is a phase I study of second primary tumor prevention in early stage (stage I/II) patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).~The study will evaluate the effect on cells and clinical response to study medications: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Erlotinib (OSI-774, Tarceva™), and Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) Inhibitor (Celecoxib). The side effects of the medications will be assessed, and chemicals in the cells will be evaluated both before and after medication is administered that may show how the drugs work. This information will help researchers determine whether additional studies with these drugs should be conducted to determine if the drugs can help prevent pre-cancerous lesions from becoming cancerous.~SCCHN accounts for 5% of all cancer, and there is an incidence of approximately 37,200 new cases in the United States per year with 11,000 deaths. The five-year survival rate for patients with SCCHN in the United States and other developed countries is still poor, approximately 40%, comparable to the five-year survival rate in the 1970s despite advances in detection, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Thus, a preventative approach before the development of invasive cancer or second primary tumors (SPTs) is highly desirable and novel strategies to reduce cancer incidence in SCCHN and other tobacco-carcinogen related malignancies are being pursued.
This is a phase I study of second primary tumor prevention in early stage (stage I/II) patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).