Treatment of Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

The major focus of the study will involve assessment of tumor response, patient survival, tolerance to drug, quality of life, depression, pain management and nutrition. During the study we will begin to study the kinetics of opioid growth factor (OGF) exogenous administration and the relationship between plasma OGF levels, stage of disease and length of treatment. Apart from potentially having growth inhibitory action on cancer, OGF may have some psychological and other biological effects which may prove to be beneficial in the patient's treatment. Presently there is no effective therapy or quality of life adjuvants for the 30,000 Americans who develop head and neck cancer yearly.