Once-a-Week Versus Once-Every-3-Weeks Cisplatin Chemoradiation for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: A Phase III Randomized Noninferiority Trial.

Noronha V ，Joshi A ，Patil VM ，Agarwal J ，Ghosh-Laskar S ，Budrukkar A ，Murthy V ，Gupta T ，D'Cruz AK ，Banavali S ，Pai PS ，Chaturvedi P ，Chaukar D ，Pande N ，Chandrasekharan A ，Talreja V ，Vallathol DH ，Mathrudev V ，Manjrekar A ，Maske K ，Bhelekar AS ，Nawale K ，Kannan S ，Gota V ，Bhattacharjee A ，Kane S ，Juvekar SL ，Prabhash K ... -  《-》

Single-Arm Phase 2 Trial of Elective Nodal Dose Reduction for Patients With Locoregionally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck.

To evaluate a novel chemoradiation therapy (CRT) regimen for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) incorporating a lower intensity modulated radiation therapy dose to electively treated neck lymph nodes than is currently standard. Eligible patients had locally advanced SCCHN of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx. The 7-week CRT course consisted of weekly cisplatin at 35 mg/m2 concurrently with sequential-boost intensity modulated radiation therapy: 36 Gy to high- and low-risk planning target volumes followed by a sequential boost to the high-risk planning target volume to 70 Gy. The primary endpoint was elective nodal failure. Secondary endpoints were survival, toxicity, feeding tube duration, and quality of life evaluated by the FACT-HN and QOL-RTI surveys. Between 2011 and 2014, 54 patients were enrolled, 31 (57%) of whom had human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive disease. Of the patients, 35 (65%) had stage IVa disease. The median follow-up period for survivors was 36 months (range, 12-66 months). Elective nodal failure did not develop in any patient. The actuarial 3-year survival rate for the entire cohort was 91% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-0.96); for the HPV-negative group, 85% (95% CI 0.61-0.95); and for the HPV-positive group, 96% (95% CI 0.77-0.99). Common grade 3 toxicities were dysphagia (79%), mucositis and/or stomatitis (41%), nausea (20%), xerostomia (13%), vomiting (11%), and neutropenia (10%). The median feeding tube duration was 142 days. Patient FACT-HN scores were higher at 3, 6, and 12 months versus at the end of treatment (P < .0001). Total FACT-HN scores returned to pretreatment baseline by 6 months. Overall QOL-RTI scores were lower from pretreatment to the end of treatment through 12 months (P = .0001). This CRT regimen for patients with advanced SCCHN demonstrated the potential feasibility of reducing the elective dose to the neck, a topic that requires additional study in future clinical trials.

Maguire PD ，Neal CR ，Hardy SM ，Schreiber AM ... -  《-》

A randomized phase 3 trial comparing nimotuzumab plus cisplatin chemoradiotherapy versus cisplatin chemoradiotherapy alone in locally advanced head and neck cancer.

Because the addition of nimotuzumab to chemoradiation in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer improved outcomes in a phase 2 study, the authors conducted a phase 3 study to confirm these findings. This open-label, investigator-initiated, phase 3, randomized trial was conducted from 2012 to 2018. Adult patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who were fit for radical chemoradiation were randomized 1:1 to receive either radical radiotherapy (66-70 grays) with concurrent weekly cisplatin (30 mg/m2 ) (CRT) or the same schedule of CRT with weekly nimotuzumab (200 mg) (NCRT).The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS); key secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS), duration of locoregional control (LRC), and overall survival (OS). An intent-to-treat analysis also was performed. In total, 536 patients were allocated equally to both treatment arms. The median follow-up was 39.13 months. The addition of nimotuzumab improved PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53-0.89; P = .004), LRC (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50-0.89; P = .006), and DFS (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55-0.92; P = .008) and had a trend toward improved OS (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.65-1.08; P = .163). Grade 3 through 5 adverse events were similar between the 2 arms, except for a higher incidence of mucositis in the NCRT arm (66.7% vs 55.8%; P = .01). The addition of nimotuzumab to concurrent weekly CRT improves PFS, LRC, and DFS. This combination provides a novel alternative therapeutic option to a 3-weekly schedule of 100 mg/m2 cisplatin in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who are treated with radical-intent CRT.

Patil VM ，Noronha V ，Joshi A ，Agarwal J ，Ghosh-Laskar S ，Budrukkar A ，Murthy V ，Gupta T ，Mahimkar M ，Juvekar S ，Arya S ，Mahajan A ，Agarwal A ，Purandare N ，Rangarajan V ，Balaji A ，Chaudhari SV ，Banavali S ，Kannan S ，Bhattacharjee A ，D'Cruz AK ，Chaturvedi P ，Pai PS ，Chaukar D ，Pantvaidya G ，Nair D ，Nair S ，Deshmukh A ，Thiagarajan S ，Mathrudev V ，Manjrekar A ，Dhumal S ，Maske K ，Bhelekar AS ，Nawale K ，Chandrasekharan A ，Pande N ，Goel A ，Talreja V ，Simha V ，Srinivas S ，Swami R ，Vallathol DH ，Dsouza H ，Shrirangwar S ，Turkar S ，Abraham G ，Thanky AH ，Patel U ，Pandey MK ，Prabhash K ... -  《-》

Randomized phase III trial to test accelerated versus standard fractionation in combination with concurrent cisplatin for head and neck carcinomas in the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0129 trial: long-term report of efficacy and toxicity.

We tested the efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin plus accelerated fractionation with a concomitant boost (AFX-C) versus standard fractionation (SFX) in locally advanced head and neck carcinoma (LA-HNC). Patients had stage III to IV carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx. Radiation therapy schedules were 70 Gy in 35 fractions over 7 weeks (SFX) or 72 Gy in 42 fractions over 6 weeks (AFX-C). Cisplatin doses were 100 mg/m(2) once every 3 weeks for two (AFX-C) or three (SFX) cycles. Toxicities were scored by using National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria 2.0 and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method and were compared by using the one-sided log-rank test. Locoregional failure (LRF) and distant metastasis (DM) rates were estimated by using the cumulative incidence method and Gray's test. In all, 721 of 743 patients were analyzable (361, SFX; 360, AFX-C). At a median follow-up of 7.9 years (range, 0.3 to 10.1 years) for 355 surviving patients, no differences were observed in OS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.96; 95% CI, 0.79 to 1.18; P = .37; 8-year survival, 48% v 48%), PFS (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.24; P = .52; 8-year estimate, 42% v 41%), LRF (HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.38; P = .78; 8-year estimate, 37% v 39%), or DM (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.56 to 1.24; P = .16; 8-year estimate, 15% v 13%). For oropharyngeal cancer, p16-positive patients had better OS than p16-negative patients (HR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.42; P < .001; 8-year survival, 70.9% v 30.2%). There were no statistically significant differences in the grade 3 to 5 acute or late toxicities between the two arms and p-16 status. When combined with cisplatin, AFX-C neither improved outcome nor increased late toxicity in patients with LA-HNC. Long-term high survival rates in p16-positive patients with oropharyngeal cancer support the ongoing efforts to explore deintensification.

Nguyen-Tan PF ，Zhang Q ，Ang KK ，Weber RS ，Rosenthal DI ，Soulieres D ，Kim H ，Silverman C ，Raben A ，Galloway TJ ，Fortin A ，Gore E ，Westra WH ，Chung CH ，Jordan RC ，Gillison ML ，List M ，Le QT ... -  《-》

Weekly Low-Dose Versus Three-Weekly High-Dose Cisplatin for Concurrent Chemoradiation in Locoregionally Advanced Non-Nasopharyngeal Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Aggregate Data.

Three-weekly high-dose cisplatin (100 mg/m2) is considered the standard systemic regimen given concurrently with postoperative or definitive radiotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA-SCCHN). However, due to unsatisfactory patient tolerance, various weekly low-dose schedules have been increasingly used in clinical practice. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy, safety, and compliance between these two approaches. We systematically searched literature for prospective trials of patients with LA-SCCHN who received postoperative or definitive conventionally fractionated concurrent chemoradiation. Radiation doses were usually 60-66 gray (Gy) in the postoperative setting and 66-70 Gy in the definitive setting. Standard, three-weekly high-dose cisplatin (100 mg/m2, 3 doses) was compared with the weekly low-dose protocol (≤50 mg/m2, ≥6 doses). The primary endpoint was overall survival. Secondary outcomes comprised response rate, acute and late adverse events, and treatment compliance. Fifty-two studies with 4,209 patients were included in two separate meta-analyses according to the two clinical settings. There was no difference in treatment efficacy as measured by overall survival or response rate between the chemoradiation settings with low-dose weekly and high-dose three-weekly cisplatin regimens. In the definitive treatment setting, the weekly regimen was more compliant and significantly less toxic with respect to severe (grade 3-4) myelosuppression (leukopenia p = .0083; neutropenia p = .0024), severe nausea and/or vomiting (p < .0001), and severe nephrotoxicity (p = .0099). Although in the postoperative setting the two approaches were more equal in compliance and with clearly less differences in the cisplatin-induced toxicities, the weekly approach induced more grade 3-4 dysphagia (p = .0026) and weight loss (p < .0001). In LA-SCCHN, current evidence is insufficient to demonstrate a meaningful survival difference between the two dosing regimens. Prior to its adoption into routine clinical practice, the low-dose weekly approach needs to be prospectively compared with the standard three-weekly high-dose schedule. Given concurrently with conventional radiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck cancer, high-dose three-weekly cisplatin has often been replaced with weekly low-dose infusions to increase compliance and decrease toxicity. The present meta-analysis suggests that both approaches might be equal in efficacy, both in the definitive and postoperative settings, but differ in toxicity. However, some toxicity data can be influenced by unbalanced representation, and the conclusions are not based on adequately sized prospective randomized studies. Therefore, low-dose weekly cisplatin should not be used outside clinical trials but first prospectively studied in adequately sized phase III trials versus the high-dose three-weekly approach.

Szturz P ，Wouters K ，Kiyota N ，Tahara M ，Prabhash K ，Noronha V ，Castro A ，Licitra L ，Adelstein D ，Vermorken JB ... -  《-》