Postoperative Radiotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract Though early stage head and neck cancers can be cured either by surgery or radiation, patients with locally advanced disease continues to pose a therapeutic challenge. Locoregional failure is the major cause of death in head and neck cancers. As the outcome of locally advanced head and neck cancer is less than promising, a combined modality approach is generally undertaken in this group of patients. The combination of surgery, radiation and more recently, chemotherapy and targeted therapy can improve outcomes in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients. This overview discusses the rationale and role of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in advanced head and neck cancers, the radiotherapy technique in brief and methods of enhancing the efficacy of postoperative RT by altering the fractionation schedules and adding chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

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Postoperative Radiotherapy in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Tumori Journal ◽

10.1177/030089168907500113 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 75 (1) ◽

pp. 47-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Giovanni Franchin ◽

Antonino De Paoli ◽

Carlo Gobitti ◽

Giovanni Boz ◽

Emilio Minatel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Survival Rate ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Locally Advanced ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Resection Margins ◽

Combined Modality Treatment ◽

Advanced Head

This retrospective study was conducted on 255 consecutive patients with locally advanced squamous-cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx or hypopharynx, treated at the Radiotherapy Department of Pordenone General Hospital between January 1975 and December 1985. All patients underwent radical surgery followed, after an interval ranging from 10 days to 2.9 months, by radiotherapy given either through a 6 MeV linear accelerator or a cobalt-60 unit. Field extension and dose delivered were comparable in relation to stage and involvement of the surgical resection margins. The aims of the study were to evaluate the survival rate and to analyze the clinical parameters which can influence the disease-free survival. The adjusted overall 5-year survival rate was 71%; stage, performance status at diagnosis, and site of the primary tumor were significant factors in determining patient prognosis, whereas Infiltration of resection margins was not significant in determining locoregional control of disease. Seventy-five patients relapsed and 67 died of cancer-related diseases whereas death in 52 patients was not related to the head and neck cancer. The combined modality treatment consisting of surgery followed by radiotherapy was well tolerated and proved to be effective in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck tumors.

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Postoperative radiotherapy with weekly cisplatin in locally advanced head and neck cancer

Annals of Oncology ◽

10.1093/annonc/mdx374.027 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. v383-v384

Author(s):

A. Hervás ◽

J. Domínguez ◽

D. Candini ◽

M. Martín ◽

C. Vallejo

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Locally Advanced ◽

Advanced Head ◽

Weekly Cisplatin

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Treatment outcome of postoperative radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20175612 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 127

Author(s):

H. U. Ghori ◽

M. Sohaib ◽

Vivek Tiwari ◽

Manish Ahirwar

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Early Stage ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Locally Advanced ◽

Disease Status ◽

Patient Characteristics ◽

Neck Tumors ◽

Modality Approach

Background: Though early stage malignancy of head and neck can be cured by surgery or radiotherapy, cure of patients with locally advanced disease continues to pose a therapeutic challenge. Loco regional failure is the major cause of death in head and neck cancer. As the cure of locally advance head and neck cancer is less than expectation, a combined modality approach is generally used in these type of patients. The combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can improve outcome in locally advance head and neck cancer.Methods: This observational study reviewed cancer patients reported in our hospital with the following inclusion criteria: primary head and neck cancer, treatment with radical surgery, and multiple nodal metastases. The prescribed dose of postoperative radiotherapy was 60–66 Gy. Patient characteristics, treatment parameters and clinical outcome were recorded. Results: The primary end point was overall survival, and the secondary endpoint was disease status.Conclusions: Concurrent postoperative administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is a way to intensify treatment for resectable high-risk head and neck tumors.

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