Nab-Paclitaxel, Cetuximab, Cisplatin, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Pathologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the upper aerodigestive tract
• Recurrent disease or second primary SCC
• * Recurrence or second primary must be confined to the head and neck above the clavicles (loco-regional recurrence)
• * Majority (≥ 75%) of the recurrent tumor must be in areas previously irradiated to ≥ 45 Gy
• * More than one recurrence allowed provided the first recurrence occurred \> 6 months after the completion of prior radiotherapy
• Unresectable disease OR has high-risk features after resection (e.g., positive margins and/or extracapsular extension)
• * No signs of carotid exposure
• No primary nasopharyngeal or salivary gland tumor
• Equivocal pulmonary nodes on chest CT scan allowed provided they are \< 1 cm, cannot be safely biopsied, or are negative on PET scan
• No distant metastasis
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Karnofsky performance status 70-100%
• ANC ≥ 2,000/mm\^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3
• Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL (transfusion or other intervention allowed)
• Bilirubin \< 1.5 mg/dL
• AST or ALT \< 2 times upper limit of normal
• Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Able to submit prior radiotherapy records to assure that the spinal cord tolerance is not exceeded
• No active cardiac disease, including any of the following:
• * Unstable angina
• * Uncontrolled hypertension
• * Myocardial infarction within the past 6 months (unless successfully treated with coronary artery bypass graft or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty)
• * Uncontrolled arrhythmia
• * Congestive heart failure
• * At least 3 heart-related hospitalizations within the past year
• No severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring ≥ 3 hospitalizations within the past year
• No concurrent medical illness that would impair patient tolerance to therapy or limit survival
• No other invasive malignancy within the past 2 years
• No pre-existing peripheral sensory neuropathy ≥ grade 2
• No prior severe infusion reaction to a monoclonal antibody
• No prisoners or individuals who are compulsorily detained (involuntarily incarcerated) for treatment of either a psychiatric or physical (e.g., infectious) illness
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• See Disease Characteristics
• Recovered from prior surgery
• Prior cisplatin and cetuximab allowed
• At least 6 months since prior radiotherapy or chemotherapy
• No prior radiotherapy \> 75 Gy
• No prior chemotherapy for recurrent head and neck cancer
• * Prior chemotherapy as a component of the primary treatment allowed
• No prior combination cisplatin, cetuximab, and radiotherapy for recurrent head and neck cancer
• * Patients with a new primary head and neck cancer whose prior primary head and neck cancer was treated with concurrent cisplatin, cetuximab, and radiotherapy are eligible provided it has been \> 6 months since treatment