Adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 after curative treatment in patients with head and neck cancer (ACTS-HNC).

Abstract

6004 Background: To establish the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 (tegafur gimeracil oteracil potassium) after curative treatment in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), we conducted a randomized phase III study to investigate whether S-1 is superior to UFT (uracil/tegafur). Methods: Patients with SCCHN who had received curative treatment and were confirmed to be tumor-free were randomly assigned to receive UFT (300 or 400 mg/day for 1 year) or S-1 (80, 100, or 120 mg/day for 1 year). The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS), and safety. We estimated that 500 patients were needed to establish the primary end point. Results: From April 2006 through November 2008, a total of 526 patients (262 assigned to UFT; 264 assigned to S-1) were enrolled. The 3-year DFS rate was 66.0% in the UFT group and 64.1% in the S-1 group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 1.16; [log-rank], P = .34). The 3-year OS rate was 75% in the UFT group and 82.9% in the S-1 group (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.94; [log-rank], P = .022). The 3-year RFS rate was 63.6% in the UFT group and 68.2% in the S-1 group (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.60 to 1.09; [log-rank], P = .16). There were no significant differences in 3-year DFS or RFS; however, the 3-year OS was significantly better in the S-1 group. The incidence of the following grade 3 or 4 events was significantly higher in the S-1 group: oral mucositis/stomatitis (2.4%), leukopenia (5.2%), neutropenia (3.6%), and thrombocytopenia (5.0%). Conclusions: S-1 was not demonstrated to be superior to UFT in terms of 3-year DFS; however, 3-year OS was significantly better with S-1 than with UFT. Clinical trial information: NCT00336947.