Erlotinib and Radiation Therapy With or Without Cisplatin in Treating Patients With Mouth or Throat Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients with clinical findings consistent with a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the OC or OP, as determined by the head and neck surgeon, may be recruited to the study prior to diagnostic biopsy; patients must have a histologically confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of OC or OP prior to proceeding with treatment
• •Oropharyngeal sites include base of tongue, tonsil, soft palate, and oropharyngeal wall
• •Oral cavity sites include oral tongue, buccal mucosa, floor of mouth, retromolar trigone, alveolar ridge, hard palate and mucosal lip
• •Patients must be AJCC stage II (T2N0) or III (T1-2N1) (AJCC fifth edition, 1997) for part A of the study, and must be AJCC stage III (T3N 0-1) or IV (T1-4N2-3M0, T4N0-1M0) for part B of the study
• •Priority for study entry will be given to patients with easily accessible tumor and who consent to repeat biopsy; study entry will not be restricted to patients who agree to further biopsies; if a patient enrolls on study and later refuses biopsy (excluding diagnostic), he/she may remain on study
• •Patients with operable or inoperable tumors will be eligible
• •No prior therapy for the tumor, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, EGFR targeted therapies, or any other investigational agents
• •Prior malignancies of sites other than the head and neck are allowed if disease free interval \>= 3 years; basal cell carcinomas of the skin and in situ cervical dysphagias are allowed within this three year interval if completely resected
• •Documentation of evaluable tumor less than or equal to four weeks before treatment start
• •ECOG performance status = 0, 1 or 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%)
• •Life expectancy of greater than or equal to 6 months
• •Leukocytes \>= 3,000
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500
• •Platelets \>= 100,000
• •Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits unless due to hemolysis or Gilbert's syndrome
• •AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) =\< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
• •Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• •APTT/INR within normal institutional limits; patients who have abnormalities in APTT/INR that are correctable after administration of vitamin K are eligible
• •No uncontrolled diabetes mellitus as glucose must be within a consistently normal range for each patient in order to standardize PET scan interpretations
• •No known malabsorption syndrome
• •G-tube dependent patients are eligible
• •The effects of OSI-774 on the developing human fetus at the recommended therapeutic dose are unknown; for this reason, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control) for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document