Induction chemotherapy did not improve outcomes in HNSCC

Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy did not improve outcomes compared with concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone in patients with unresectable, nonmetastatic, locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, according to results of a randomized, open-label, phase 3 study.

The analysis included 439 untreated patients who were randomly assigned to one of three regimens:

Three cycles of induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil , followed by 7 weeks of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (TPF arm)
Three cycles of induction chemotherapy with cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil followed by 7 weeks of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (PF arm); or
Concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone.

PFS and time to treatment failure served as the primary outcome measures.

Median PFS was 14.6 months in the TPF arm (95% CI, 11.6-20.4); 14.3 months for the PF arm (95% CI, 11.8-19.3); and 13.8 months in the chemoradiotherapy alone arm (95% CI, 11-17.5; P=.56).

Median time to treatment failure was 7.9 months for the TPF arm (95% CI, 5.9-11.8), 7.9 months for the PF arm (95% CI, 6.5-11.8) and 8.2 months for the chemoradiotherapy alone arm (95% CI, 6.7-12.6; P=.90).

Researchers observed no statistically significant differences in OS between treatment arms.

Adverse events among patients assigned to induction chemotherapy were manageable, researchers wrote.

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Sources/Disclosures

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Source: Hitt R. Ann Oncol. 2013;doi:10.1093/annonc/mdt461.