CONCURRENT CISPLATINUM AND RADIATION WITH OR WITHOUT SURGERY FOR ADVANCED HEAD AND NECK-CANCER

Purpose: This study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of concurren t cis-platinum and radiation in patients with advanced head and neck c ancer and to determine if patients responding to the preoperative regi mens may be cured without radical surgery. Methods and Materials: One hundred and one patients with potentially operable Stage III and IV sq uamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck received 45 Gy at 1.8 Gy fr actions and continuous infusion cis-platinum 20 mg/ m(2) over 24 h on days 1 through 4 and 22 through 25 of the radiation schedule. Three to 4 weeks later, radical surgery of the primary site and neck dissectio ns for patients presenting with cervical adenopathy was undertaken or if a complete response had been achieved, continued with radiation to 72 Gy with another course of concurrent continuous infusion cis-platin um. Result: Complete and partial responses were achieved in 92% of the primary sites and 95% of the nodes. Over 80% of the patients were ren dered tumor free at surgery after only the initial course of chemother apy and radiation. There were no grade 3 or 4 toxicities from chemothe rapy and radiation. Ninety-five percent of the patients who initiated treatment completed it. With a median follow-up of 41 months for all p atients, 49% of the patients have survived disease free up to 9 years, independent of whether or not their primary tumors were resected or w ere treated definitively by further chemotherapy sensitized radiation. The disease-specific survival is 78% after 3 years with no local fail ures thereafter. Conclusion: These findings suggest that continuous in fusion cis-platinum administered concurrently with radiotherapy can im prove survival in advanced head and neck cancer. Patients responding t o the preoperative regimen may be cured without radical surgery, which can be reserved for salvage.