This study will evaluate possible new treatments for advanced stage head and neck cancer. Patients who have undergone surgery to remove their tumor may qualify if the tissue is positive for a specific type of squamous cell cancer. The purpose of this study is to compare the current standard treatment, radiation therapy along with chemotherapy with a drug called cisplatin, to two other treatments. One experimental treatment is radiation therapy along with two chemotherapy agents, docetaxel and cetuximab, and the other experimental treatment is the standard treatment currently used along with the addition of an immunotherapy drug atezolizumab. Patients who qualify for participation will be randomly assigned to one of the 3 treatment groups (done with a computerized system). In the current standard treatment group, participants will receive radiation therapy 5 days per week for 6 weeks, and cisplatin once a week through a vein for the 6-week treatment period. The group receiving doxetaxel and cetuximab (both FDA approved medications for the treatment of certain cancers) will receive the same 6 weeks of radiation along with cetuximab through a vein 1 week prior to the start of radiation therapy, and then once a week for the 6 weeks of radiation and the doxetaxel will also be given through a vein once a week for the 6 weeks of radiation therapy. The final group will get the current standard treatment with 6 weeks of radiation and 6 weeks of cisplatin, along with atezolizumab through a vein 1 week prior to your starting radiation and then every 3 weeks for a total of 8 doses, There will be twice as many patients in this last group than the other two groups.

Follow-up will be at Month 1 & 3 and then every 3 months for 2 years, and then every 6 months for 3 more years, and then annually for as long as a participant is willing and able. There will be blood tests and CT scans that will occur throughout the study, however they are standard for the type of cancer being treated and how each individual responds to the treatment. The benefit of participation is there may be improved outcomes in this group of patients however the risks involved with receiving new treatments may be more than with the usual standard treatment. Some of the most common side effects that the study doctors know about are infection, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain, tiredness, kidney problems, numbness/tingling in hands and feet. There may be some risks that the study doctors are not aware of at the moment. There will be a total of up to 480 participants across all sites and approximately 24 participants at MUSC.

In this study, the participants will take pembrolizumab for 24 months or get pembrolizumab plus a course of radiation therapy for 24 months until the cancer progresses. After the study treatment is finished, the study doctor will continue to follow the participants condition for a total of 3 years. Some risks in this study is that pembrolizumab with radiation may not be as good as the usual approach for cancer shirking or stabilizing. Some risks associated with pembrolizumab and radiation which are reduction in blood counts, mouth or throat pain and difficulty swallowing. The potential benefit of this study is that radiation and chemotherapy/pembrolizumab can be effective at shrinking or stabilizing the cancer. The purpose of this study is to compare using pembrolizumab with radiation to pembrolizumab without radiation.

This study is for patients that have been diagnosed with Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. The purpose of this research study is to determine if lower doses of radiation therapy are as effective as the standard higher doses. Participants will have tests and procedures that would be performed as part of regular care. Participants will be assigned to one of three study groups based on your risk for cancer recurrence. Depending on the group assigned, participants receive either standard dose of radiation therapy (RT), a moderately reduced dose of RT, or an extremely reduced dose of RT. During the RT treatment, participants will also receive chemotherapy. Chemotherapy will be given at the same dose used in routine care for everybody in the study. Participants will be in the study for up to 5 years.

This study is for patients who have been diagnosed with locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of this study is to compare two usual treatment approaches to head and neck cancer: high-dose cisplatin given every 3 weeks with radiation to low-dose cisplatin given weekly with radiation. The usual approach for patients who are not in this study is treatment with radiation therapy combined with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. Cisplatin is a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat your head and neck cancer. Cisplatin can be given at different doses and at different times during radiation, but the most common way to give cisplatin is either as a high-dose every 3 weeks or a low-dose weekly during radiation. Participants can expect to be on this study for up to 7 weeks and then followed annually until disease progression.