The Effects of Upper Airway and Digestive Tract Tumors on the Immune System

Study Summary

The goal of this study is to learn how tumors of the upper airway and digestive passages (tongue, throat, mouth, and voicebox) affect the body's immune defenses and energy storage. Previous studies have shown that tumors of the vocal tract produce signals that could help the tumor escape the body's immune defenses and use the body's energy and mineral stores to grow. Researchers are hoping to learn more about what signals give tumor cells an advantage to live and grow, how tumor cells control these signals, and how these signals affect the rest of the body. This study will look closer at researchers belief that tumors in the vocal tract contain genes (genetic information) that abnormally function to allow the tumors to survive and grow against the attack of the body's normal immune system Patients with cancerous tumors (squamous cell carcinoma) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors (papilloma) of the upper aerodigestive tract who are candidates for standard or investigational therapy are eligible to participate in this study. Tumor cells will be collected from patients participating in the study, who will undergo standard surgical treatment or biopsies for their conditions. Once tumor cells are collected they can be analyzed for their genetic make-up. In addition, patients will undergo several tests using skin, blood, and urine to look closely at the function of their immune systems and metabolism.