Efficacy and tolerability of weekly 40mg/m² cisplatin radiosensitizing modified regimen for locally-advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma radical treatment with chemoradiotherapy: A university hospital experience.

Abstract

e18512 Background: Cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a well-established regimen used for adjuvant and/or head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) radical treatment. The most classic protocol for chemoradiotherapy remains the administration of Cisplatin 100mg/m² EV D1 q3-week period, 3 cycles. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy and tolerability of the weekly 40mg/m² cisplatin regimen. Methods: we conducted a retrospective study from 2007-2020 with 102 patients treated at a national reference institution. All of them with HNSCC received concurrent CRT with weekly cisplatin 40mg/m² EV D1. We analyzed the overall survival (OS), local recurrence and tolerability in this scheme. Results: The median cisplatin cumulative dose received by our patients was 240mg/m². Hence, we divided them in two groups for the analysis: Group A (41 patients) received less than 240mg/m² cisplatin total dose and Group B (61 patients) received more or equal 240mg/m² cisplatin total dose. Both groups were equally balanced between sex, clinic stage, histologic grade and clinic status. We found that the Group A experienced 5 deaths (12.2%) while the Group B experienced 6 deaths (9.8%). The mean time to recurrence disease in the Group A was 45.68 months and in Group B 60.22 months (p = 0.958). The estimated overall survival in the Group A was 150 months and in the Group B was 116.4 months (p = 0.443). Conclusions: The weekly cisplatin dose regimen showed to be feasible, more tolerable, and less toxic and with no difference in terms of OS then the classic 3-week cisplatin protocol in the CRT setting. Our group suggests that the 240mg/m² cumulative cisplatin weekly schedule should be a better option for CRT treatments then the classic cisplatin regimen. A phase III clinical trial is warranted to further understanding of this framework. Key-words: head and neck cancer, cisplatin, radiotherapy