Acute toxicity and preliminary clinical outcomes of concurrent radiation therapy and weekly docetaxel and daily cisplatin for head and neck cancer

Abstract

Objective: To examine the feasibility and efficacy of concurrent weekly docetaxel and radiation therapy as a definitive treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC). Methods: Thirty-two patients with primary HNC, who were treated with concurrent weekly docetaxel and radiation therapy, were analysed. The distribution of the disease stage was as follows: Stage II, 18 patients; Stage III, 3 patients; Stage IVA, 7 patients; Stage IVB, 3 patients; the patient of cervical lymph node metastasis with unknown primary tumor was not assessable. The average total dose of radiotherapy was 67.5 Gy. Docetaxel (10 mg/m2, intravenously, once a week) was given to all patients up to four cycles, and cisplatin (6 mg/m2, intravenously, five times a week) was also administered to all patients for up to 3 weeks from the beginning of the radiation therapy. Results: Only in two patients did the radiotherapy need to be temporarily interrupted due to the development of acute mucositis. Grade 3 toxicity was observed in six patients. Grade 4 acute mucositis was seen in one patient. The response rate was 100%, and complete response (CR) was observed in 30 patients (94%). At the time of the analysis, the 2 year local control and relapse-free rates in the 30 patients showing CR were 90 and 76%, respectively. Conclusions: Concurrent weekly docetaxel and radiation therapy did not affect the compliance of the patients for the radiation therapy, indicating that the acute toxicities were within acceptable limits. © 2005 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research.