Effect of induction chemotherapy (IC) on survival in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC) treated with chemoradiotherapy: Single center experience.

Abstract

e17032 Background: Eventhough IC can lower distant metastasis rates in LA-HNSCC, survival benefit of IC has not yet been confirmed. We evaluated whether IC prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) improves overall survival comparing with CCRT alone. Methods: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for 224 patients who were diagnosed of LA-HNSCC from January 2005 to January 2013. We analyzed overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between the patients who received IC followed by CCRT (N=144) and CCRT alone (N=80). Results: Of total 224 patients, 195 were male. Median age was 61.0 years old. Sites of disease were as follows: oropharynx= 101; hypopharynx= 42; larynx= 23; oral cavity= 32; nasal cavity= 6; and others= 20. Among the IC group, 71 patients (49.3%) had received docetaxel plus cisplatin as IC regimen. Of all patients, 199 patients (88.9%) had CCRT with weekly cisplatin. The median follow-up duration was 48.5 months (range 13.8-100.6 months). Three year OS rate was signif...