Real-world clinical outcomes in Japanese patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with radiotherapy plus cetuximab: a prospective observational study (JROSG12-2)

BACKGROUND

Radiotherapy plus cetuximab (bioradiotherapy: BRT) is a standard option in the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA-SCCHN). Published data on its safety and efficacy in real-world settings is limited. Here, we conducted a prospective multi-institutional observational study to evaluate clinical outcomes of BRT in patients with LA-SCCHN.

METHODS

We analyzed real-world data of all patients who underwent BRT from 2013 to 2016. The primary endpoint was 1-year progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints were 1-year locoregional PFS (LPFS), treatment completion rate (TCR), and adverse events (AEs).

RESULTS

A total of 171 patients with a minimum 1-year follow-up were analyzed. Median age was 67 (36-85) years, and 37 patients (21.6%) were aged 75 years or older. 1-year PFS and LPFS were 51.5 and 56.1%, respectively. N stage (p = 0.049) was significantly associated with PFS. TCR was 77.2%. Cetuximab was definitively discontinued in 30 patients (17.5%), in 15 cases due to severe mucositis. N stage, T stage, and comorbidity were significantly associated with TCR. Major AEs of grade 3 or higher were pharyngeal mucositis (48.5%), radiation dermatitis (45.6%), and oral mucositis (40.4%). Pneumonitis was observed in 12 patients (7.0%); 6 cases (3.5%) were grades 3-4 and 2 (1.2%) were grade 5.

CONCLUSION

As a result of the large number of elderly patients in clinical practice,　toxicity reduced TCR. BRT-induced pneumonitis, which is sometimes fatal, was found to be more frequent than with chemotherapy plus cetuximab.

Outcome of multidisciplinary treatment in laryngeal cancer. Retrospective study with 10-years follow-up

Background

In laryngeal cancer, multidisciplinary treatment improves the patient's quality of life and the possibility of preserving the larynx. Most cases occur in a locally advanced stage. The aim is to present the results according to the stage.

Method

A retrospective study which analyzed the clinical stage, type of primary treatment, outcomes, and survival were analyzed.

Results

451 patients were included. The median age was 66 years. The majority of the tumors presented in advanced stage (72%) and the most affected subsite was the glottis (84.5%). In the early stage the most frequent treatment was radiotherapy as the only treatment modality. In stages III and IVA, 65% were resectable. In stage IVB the management was non-surgical, with control in 26% of the cases. Survival at 10 years was related to the clinical stage: 81.7% for stage I and 0% for stages IVB and IVC.

Conclusions

Patients with laryngeal cancer should be treated according to the clinical stage, through a multidisciplinary approach. Long-term follow-up showed a worse prognosis for advanced clinical stages.

Metastasis of carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma to the brain without previous metastasis to the lungs or bones: a case report

Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma is a rare type of cancer of the salivary gland that involves the malignant transformation of a primary or recurrent pleomorphic adenoma, which often metastasises to the lungs or bones, or both. To the best of our knowledge, however, nobody has reported a distant metastasis of this lesion to the brain without such previous metastasis. We report a case in a 64-year-old man.

Predictive and prognostic value of CT based radiomics signature in locally advanced head and neck cancers patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy or bioradiotherapy and its added value to Human Papillomavirus status

OBJECTIVES

To explore prognostic and predictive value of radiomics in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (LAHNSCC) treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or bioradiotherapy (BRT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data of 120 patients (CRT vs. BRT matched 2:1) were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 544 radiomics features of the primary tumor were extracted from radiotherapy planning computed tomography scans. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between survival and radiomics features with false discovery rate correction. The discriminatory performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis showed a 24-feature based signature significantly predicted for OS (HR=0.3, P=0.02) and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR=0.3, P=0.01). Combining the radiomics signature with p16 status showed a significant improvement of prognostic performance compared with p16 (AUC=0.78vs. AUC=0.64 at 5years, P=0.01) or radiomics signature (AUC=0.78vs. AUC=0.67, P=0.01) alone. When patients were stratified according to this combination, OS and PFS were significantly different according to the 4 sub-types (p16+ with low/high signature score; p16- with low/high signature score) (P<0.001). Patients with high signature score significantly benefited from CRT (vs. BRT) in terms of OS (P=0.004), while no benefit from CRT in patients with low signature score.

CONCLUSION

Our analysis suggests an added value of radiomics features as prognostic and predictive biomarker in HNSCC treated with CRT/BRT. Moreover, the radiomics signature provided additional information to HPV/p16 status to further stratify patients. External validation of such findings is mandatory given the risk of overfitting.

Complication and surgical site infection for salvage surgery in head and neck cancer after chemoradiotherapy and bioradiotherapy

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the complications, surgical site infection (SSI), and survival in salvage surgery without free-flap reconstruction for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who were treated by platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (Plat-CRT) or cetuximab-based bioradiotherapy (Cet-BRT).

METHODS

Thirty-three patients treated by Plat-CRT and six treated by Cet-BRT had salvage surgery. We categorized postoperative complications according to the Clavien-Dindo classification and SSI according to the wound grading scale. Overall survival calculated by Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Patients with Cet-BRT were significantly associated with the presence of SSI (P<0.01) and grades IIIb-V of the Clavien-Dindo classification (P<0.01) compared with those with Plat-CRT. Patients with Cet-BRT had a significantly lower overall survival than those with Plat-CRT (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

We demonstrated that patients with Cet-BRT were significantly more associated with the presence of SSI and grades IIIb-V in the Clavien-Dindo classification than those with CRT.

Salvage surgery after local recurrence in patients with head and neck carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy or bioradiotherapy

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the oncologic outcomes and surgical complications after salvage surgery for recurrence following chemoradiotherapy or bioradiotherapy for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

From 2007 to 2011, 187 patients were treated with chemoradiotherapy (n=154) or bioradiotherapy (n=33). Patients treated with bioradiotherapy were older and showed a tendency to poorer general condition. During the follow-up, 43 patients treated with chemoradiotherapy (27.9%) and 13 patients treated with bioradiotherapy (39.3%) had a local recurrence of the tumor. We analyzed the patient candidates to salvage surgery, and the associated complications and outcome of these surgeries.

RESULTS

Sixteen patients treated with chemoradiotherapy (37.2%) and eight treated with bioradiotherapy (61.5%) had salvage surgery. Multivariate analysis showed that the variable most strongly related to salvage surgery after local recurrence of the tumor was the type of initial treatment. The frequency of postoperative complications was higher in patients who received chemoradiotherapy (62.5% versus 12.5%, P=0.03). Five-year adjusted-survival after salvage surgery was 26.0% for patients receiving chemoradiotherapy and 70.0% for patients undergoing bioradiotherapy (P=0.156).

CONCLUSION

Patients who presented recurrence after bioradiotherapy were more likely candidates to salvage surgery than those who had chemoradiotherapy. Patients undergoing salvage surgery had fewer postoperative complications and better adjusted survival after bioradiotherapy than after chemoradiotherapy.