Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin and docetaxel for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Abstract

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with high-dose cisplatin is considered as the global standard therapy to treat patients with advanced head and neck cancer (HNSCC). High doses of cisplatin (100mg/m2) induce severe adverse effects that hinder the completion of therapy, and late toxicity, including renal dysfunction, may prevent patients from receiving treatment with second-line chemotherapies. We retrospectively analyzed the effect of CCRT combined with moderate-dose cisplatin (4x15 mg/m2) and docetaxel (50 mg/m2) in 83 patients with locally advanced HNSCC. The median follow-up period was 31 months (range 3-100 months). Radiotherapy was completed in 98% of patients including 36 patients (43%) aged 70 or older. The overall complete response rate was 87% with preserving renal function. The 3-year overall survival, disease-specific survival and progression-free survival rates were 71%, 81% and 70%, respectively. The 3-year disease-specific survival with organ preservation was 79%. CCRT with a combination of moderate-dose cisplatin and docetaxel in HNSCC patients was well tolerated; it also demonstrated comparable clinical responses to CCRT using high-dose cisplatin.