Irradiation with misonidazole and hyperbaric oxygen: final report on a randomized trial in advanced head and neck cancer

Abstract

One hundred and thirty patients with locally advanced squamous carcinoma of the head and neck were treated in a prospective randomized trial to compare conventional irradiation (63.00 Gy in 30 fractions) with a combination sensitizer regimen of misonidazole and hyperbaric oxygen. The drug (2.0 gm/m2) was given with each of six fractions of 6.0 Gy in hyperbaric oxygen at 3 ATA. The results support a previous study and favor the combination at 1 year at better than the 10% level. This regimen could be useful for bulky primary or nodal disease.