ENT Medical News

Become a Member Today!
Register

Most Viewed Abstracts

1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians

2. 2008 Exclusive Survey—Earnings: Good news for primary care income

3. Medicare pay-for-reporting effort draws fire from frustrated doctors

4. Debunking Myths in the US Healthcare System

5. Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Otitis Media

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Definitive altered fractionation radiotherapy and concomitant weekly cisplatin for locally advanced head and neck cancer
American Journal of Clinical Oncology, 10/09/09

Boulmay BC et al. – Concomitant weekly CDDP with definitive RT is feasible, tolerable, highly active, and comparable with more complex, costly, and toxic regimens. Intercurrent disease was a significant contributor to mortality in our population. Our regimen is an attractive alternative to sequential chemoradiotherapy programs.

Methods

Retrospectively reviewed
Thirty-five patients with American Joint Committee of Cancer stage II (3%), stage III (14%), or stage IV (83%) squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx treated from June 2000 to November 2003
Received radiation therapy (RT; median, 74.4 Gy) and cisplatin, 30 mg/m2/wk
Altered fractionation used in 34 of 35 (97%) patients
Endpoints were best response, percentage of grade III or IV toxicities, local-regional control, disease-free survival, cause-specific survival, and overall survival

Results

Median number of cycles of cisplatin administered 6
Grade III or IV toxicities were: anemia, 11%; thrombocytopenia, 6%; leukopenia, 26%; and mucositis, 23%
No patients had renal failure and 1 patient (3%) died because of therapy-related complications
Responses to therapy included 71% complete response, 17% partial response, and 6% stable disease
Median follow-up for all patients was 1.8 years (range, 0.1-7.8 years); median follow-up for living patients was 4.4 years (range, 2.6-7.8 years)
3-year outcomes were: local-regional control, 85%; disease-free survival, 56%; cause-specific survival, 59%; and overall survival, 40%

Next >>
Pretreatment prognostic factors influencing distant...