• 10/26/2005
  • Orlando, FL
  • staff
  • Ivanhoe.com

Research presented this week at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Denver offers new hope to people with head and neck cancers.

Eric Horwitz, M.D., from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, says, “Not only did this clinical trial show efficacy with our regimen, but it appears to significantly increase the probability of survival when compared to the current standard treatment.” The current standard treatment is chemotherapy.

Currently, there are few options for people with head and neck cancers who develop a second tumor or for those whose disease comes back in a place that has already been radiated.

Researchers studied patients with recurrent squamous-cell head and neck cancer or a second tumor that had developed in a previously radiated area. More than 100 patients from the United States and Canada were enrolled in the study. Patients were given a new combination treatment. One part of that treatment consisted of hyperfractionated radiation therapy, in which the patients were given radiation twice a day for five days every two weeks for four cycles. Patients also received chemotherapy with cisplatin (Platinol) and paclitaxel (Taxol, Onxol or Paxene) every day for two weeks for four cycles.

Patients receiving chemotherapy alone have an average survival of six months to eight months. The results of this new study show 50 percent of patients receiving the combination treatment survived for at least one year. Nearly 26 percent survived two years.

This extended survival is not without risk. Researchers say the side effects of the treatment were significant. However, Dr. Horwitz adds, “These patients were among those with the most serious cancers.” Eight of the patients had fatal side effects.

The next step for this research is a phase III randomized trial which will compare this treatment to chemotherapy alone.

SOURCE: The American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology in Denver, Oct. 16-20, 2005