Study to evaluate the acute toxicities and response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly cisplatin versus cisplatin and paclitaxel in locally advanced head-and-neck cancer

The objective of this study is to assess the acute toxicities and locoregional response rates in patients with locally advanced head-and-neck squamous cell carcinomas with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and weekly cisplatin versus weekly cisplatin and paclitaxel. In this study, oropharyngeal cancer dominated with 52% of patients in the study arm and 47% in the control arm. Most of the patients were in Stage IV a (69%). Toxicities were observed more in the study arm with 59% of patients with Grade 3 mucositis and 52% of patients with Grade 3 dermatitis. Eighty-one percent of patients in the study arm and 70% of patients in the control arm had Grade 3 dysphagia. Grade 2 leukocytopenia was seen in 44% of patients in the study arm and 19% in the control arm. Complete and partial responses at the end of follow-up were 70% and 30% in the study arm and 48% and 52% in the control arm, respectively. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with injection cisplatin and paclitaxel in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has a higher complete response rate with manageable toxicities. (author)