Cetuximab/cisplatin and radiotherapy in HNSCC: Is there a favorite choice?

Abstract

Introduction. In the absence of a published head-to-head trial between concomitant cisplatin-radiotherapy vs cetuximab-radiotherapy, we compared results of cetuximab vs cisplatin in unresectable HNSCC in our daily clinical practice. Materials and methods. We retrospectively analyzed all consecutive patients with unresectable HNSCC treated at Clinical Oncology Unit of the University Hospital of Ferrara (Italy) from October 2008 to February 2010. Results. We evaluated 21 patients: at last follow-up, 6 patients (28.6%) were deceased, 15 patients (71.4%) were alive and, among these, 13 (61.9%) were alive without evidence of disease (NED). Median follow-up time was 9.74 months. Median OS was 10.95 months. General characteristics were similar in the two subgroups, except for median age (low in cisplatin-subgroup: 55 vs 72) and the type of response (with a high numbers of complete response in cisplatin-subgroup). By the univariate analysis there was no statistical significance difference in OS (p= 0.898) between the two subgroups. Conclusions. Based on state-of-the-art, it was not possible to identify either treatment regimen is as superior in prolonging either locoregional control or OS: our results seem to indicate that the two treatments may be equally efficacious and deferring the choice of treatment on the toxicity profile. Head-to-head trials are needed. © 2014 Versita and Springer-Verlag.