Chemoradiation offered better survival than accelerated radiation in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas
Source: www.oncologypractice.com Author: Neil Osterweil, Oncology Report Digital Network Concurrent chemoradiation offered better overall survival and disease-free survival than accelerated radiotherapy in patients with moderately advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, investigators reported at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Symposium. Actuarial rates of 2-year overall survival and disease-free survival in patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation (CCR) were significantly better than for patients treated with accelerated radiotherapy alone, reported Dr. Krzysztof Skladowski of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, Poland. "CCR with conventional 7 weeks of fractionation and at least two courses of high-dose cisplatin is more effective than 6 weeks of accelerated radiotherapy alone," he said. Even if patients can tolerate only a single course of cisplatin, CCR is still superior to accelerated radiation, he added. The findings suggest that accelerated radiation protocols should be reserved for patients with more favorable prognosis, such as those with stage T2 disease with limited nodal involvement, and those who are positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) p16 protein, Dr. Skladowski said at the symposium cosponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The findings are "concordant with data that has been emerging now over approximately 10-14 years of the value of concurrent chemoradiation in head and neck cancer for a substantial cohort of patients over radiation alone," said Dr. Paul Harari of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the invited discussant. Although a previous meta-analysis (Lancet 2006; [...]