Background: Although induction chemotherapy can reduce distant metastases in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), overall survival (OS) improvement because of induction chemotherapy has not been confirmed.
Methods: We reviewed medical records of 224 patients diagnosed with locally advanced HNSCC who were treated with induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT; induction chemotherapy/CRT; N = 144) and CRT alone (N = 80) from 2005 to 2013. We analyzed OS and progression-free survival (PFS).
Results: The 3-year OS rate was significantly higher in the induction chemotherapy/CRT group compared to the CRT group (74.0% vs 62.7%; p = .045). The 3-year PFS rate was 64.6% in the induction chemotherapy/CRT group and 54.1% in the CRT group (p = .060). Subgroup analysis showed patients with high N classification (N2 or N3) oropharyngeal cancer had greater benefits when treated with induction chemotherapy/CRT.
Conclusion: Induction chemotherapy plus CRT improved OS, compared to CRT alone in locally advanced HNSCC, especially with high N classification.
Keywords: concurrent chemoradiotherapy; head and neck cancer; induction chemotherapy; subgroup analysis; survival.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.