Acceleration of hyperfractionated chemoradiation regimen for advanced head and neck cancer

Aaron M. Allen, Mohamed Elshaikh, Francis P. Worden, Carol R. Bradford, Theodores N. Teknos, Douglas B. Chepeha, Christina Tsien, Laura A. Dawson, Susan Urba, Gregory T. Wolf, Daniel Normolle, Avraham Eisbruch*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background. Our aim was to evaluate the acceleration of a hyperfractionated, concurrent chemoradiation regimen (HxCRT) for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods. Patients with unresectable HNSCC were treated based on a previously published HxCRT regimen: 1.25 Gy twice daily to 70 Gy concurrent with cisplatin 12 mg/m2/day and 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2/day for 5 days, weeks 1, 5. This regimen was accelerated in this series by shortening the treatment from 7 to 6 weeks by omitting the planned mid-treatment 1-week break. Results. Forty-six patients with T3-4/N3 disease were treated. The main acute toxicity was pharyngeal. Median weight change during therapy in patients with and without enteral feeding tubes was -3.8% and -7.9%, respectively (p = .08). Fifteen percent had late grade III pharyngeal toxicity. Local/regional and distant failure rates were 28% and 17%, respectively; 52% are alive without evidence of disease. Conclusions. In nonresectable HNSCC, acceleration of the HxCRT regimen is feasible, requiring enteral feeding tubes during therapy in most patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)137-142
Number of pages6
JournalHead and Neck
Volume29
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Altered fractionation
  • Chemotherapy
  • Dysphagia
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Radiotherapy

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