The study of re-irradiation for head and neck cancer

Nearly 50% patients with head and neck cancer after radiotherapy will recurrence in the previous radiation fields. Salvage surgery is the first choice of treatment. Clinical studies have shown that a small number of patients with recurrent head and neck cancer can benefit from salvage surgery plus postoperative re-irradiation or re-irradiation with or without chemotherapy or targeted therapy, and these patients can achieved tumor control and long-term survival. However, the overall efficacy is not satisfactory, and often accompanied by severe acute and late, and even fatal treatment-related toxicity. Therefore, it is necessary to give full consideration to the condition of recurrent tumor, the first radiotherapy related factors and the patient's related status before implementation of re-irradiation. The development of radiotherapy technology and comprehensive treatment, including the clinical application of proton and heavy ion and immune therapy, provides the possibility of improving the prognosis and reducing treatment-related toxicity for these patients. (authors)