Ponatinib for Squamous Cell Lung and Head and Neck Cancers

Patients will be asked to undergo some screening tests or procedures to find out if they can be in the research study. Many of these tests and procedures are likely to be part of regular cancer care and may be done even if it turns out that an individual does not take part in the research study. If a patient has had some of these tests or procedures recently, they may or may not have to be repeated. These screening tests include: medical history, physical examination, vital signs, performance status, assessment of tumor(s), CT scan or MRI scan of brain, routine blood tests, urine pregnancy test for women of childbearing potential and electrocardiogram. Additionally at the time of screening patients will undergo collection of an archival tumor tissue sample for tumor mutation testing. If a patient takes part in this research study, he or she will be given a study drug-dosing calendar for each treatment cycle. Each treatment cycle lasts 4 weeks during which time the patient will be taking the study drug by mouth daily. The number of cycles the patient will receive will depend on how the patient is tolerating the ponatinib and if your cancer has worsened. There is a possibility that the following tests or procedures may need to be done at times other than those listed below. These may be done if the research doctors determine they are medically necessary to monitor illness or any side effects a patient may be experiencing. It is important that patients call their research doctor if at any time they are experiencing side effects they cannot tolerate. During all cycles patients will have a physical exam and be asked questions about their general health and specific questions about any problems that they might be having and any medications they might be taking. If the patient's disease progresses while you are on this study, they will be given the option of consenting to a new biopsy for research purposes at no financial cost to the patient. The investigators would like to keep track of your medical condition for the rest of each patient's life. The investigators would like to do this by calling every six months to see how the patients are doing. Keeping in touch with checking their condition helps the investigators look at the long-term effects of the research study.