Irinotecan and Cisplatin in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that is considered incurable with surgery or radiotherapy
• •Meets one of the following criteria:
• •* Previously untreated disease
• •* Newly diagnosed disease with distant metastases
• •* Recurrent or persistent disease
• •* Local-regional recurrence/persistence or distant metastases after initial treatment with surgery or radiotherapy
• •* No locally advanced unresectable disease that was not previously treated with radiotherapy
• •Bidimensionally measurable disease
• •* If the only measurable disease is within the radiotherapy port, there must be biopsy-proven recurrence ≥ 8 weeks after the completion of radiotherapy
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •ECOG performance status 0-2
• •Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
• •Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min
• •SGOT ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal
• •Serum bilirubin \< 1.5 mg/dL
• •Granulocytes ≥ 1,500/mm \^3
• •Platelet count \> 100,000/mm\^3
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• •No significant detectable infection
• •No co-morbid disease unless under adequate control
• •No other cancer within the past 3 years except basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer or early-stage prostate cancer