Patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer may respond better to treatment when the drug cetuximab is added to standard chemotherapy, according to findings presented by University of Pittsburgh researchers yesterday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Out of 37 patients, 32 responded to initial therapy with that treatment regimen, and all patients had full or partial reduction of their tumors later after radiation treatment, said Dr. Ethan Argiris, lead investigator and co-leader of the head and neck cancer program at the Pitt Cancer Institute.

After two years, about 80 percent of patients remained cancer-free, an encouraging result since most had stage 4 disease, Dr. Argiris said in a statement. He and his colleagues are planning more studies using the treatment regimen.

The study was supported in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, cetuximab's manufacturer.

In another presentation yesterday, Pitt researchers said treating pancreatic cancer with chemotherapy, biotherapy and radiation prior to surgery is safe and may be beneficial. Biotherapies stimulate the immune system to fight cancer.

In a preliminary study, 14 patients with potentially operable tumors completed treatment with radiation and the drugs gemcitabine and bevacizumab. Following treatment, 10 were eligible for surgery and several had significant tumor shrinkage before their surgeries.

The study is sponsored by Genentech, which developed bevacizumab.

Dr. A. James Moser, lead author of the study, and his colleagues are enrolling patients for the study's next phase.

In other findings presented Sunday, Pitt researchers said the combination of two biotherapies may be beneficial for patients with inoperable melanoma.

Sixteen patients with stage 4 disease who had not benefited from at least one round of prior therapy were treated with high-dose interferon alfa-2b and tremelimumab. The overall response rate was 19 percent. The study, funded by Pfizer, has since moved into its next stage, where it will enroll 21 more patients.

For more information on the three studies, call 412-647-2811.