RATIONALE: Drugs that make cancer cells more visible to light may help in the diagnosis of head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the usefulness of porfimer sodium in diagnosing patients with head and neck cancer.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether porfimer sodium fluorescence can be used to reveal early malignant changes in patients with lesions of the oral cavity. II. Investigate whether porfimer sodium fluorescence can define areas of field cancerization in the oral mucosa, specifically satellite foci of malignant cells within the margins of an excision. III. Determine whether uptake of fluorescence is indicative of disease stage. OUTLINE: Patients receive porfimer sodium IV bolus and are kept in subdued light until examination with a fluorescence photometer 48 hours later. Patients must avoid sunlight and other intense lights for an additional 30 days. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: 20 patients will be accrued per year.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, New York, United States
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