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. 2023 Jul 20;15(7):e42206.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.42206. eCollection 2023 Jul.

A Comparative Prospective Study Between Conventional Chemo-Radiotherapy and Pure Accelerated Radiotherapy With Concurrent Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Sumana M Das  1 , Niladri Roy  2 , Dharmendra Singh  3 , Pritam Kumar Sardar  4 , Siddhartha Das  5
Affiliations

A Comparative Prospective Study Between Conventional Chemo-Radiotherapy and Pure Accelerated Radiotherapy With Concurrent Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Sumana M Das et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: The established standard treatment for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is concurrent chemoradiotherapy, but the optimum radiotherapy schedule for best disease control and acceptable toxicity is still evolving. Tumor control probability decreases with each day's prolongation of treatment time. Shortening the overall treatment time of radiation by pure accelerated radiotherapy may be a good option.

Material and methods: One hundred and sixty-five patients with histopathologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were included in the study and were assigned into two groups from January 2017 to June 2019. The total dose of 70 Gy was given, 2 Gy/fraction/day. Treatment was given five days a week (conventional radiotherapy) and six days a week (pure accelerated radiotherapy). Both groups received weekly concurrent injections of cisplatin.

Results: The stage (p=0.006) and fractionation of radiation (p=0.018) were the independent factors affecting disease-free survival (DFS). There was a statistically significant difference (p=0.019) in the recurrence of patients in different fractionation schedules. The median DFS was 39 months with a 95% CI of 31.44 - 46.55. One- and three-year DFS was 51% and 8.5% respectively in the five fractions/week schedule arm while 54.5% and 9.5% respectively in the six fractions/week schedule group.

Conclusion: Pure accelerated radiotherapy is more efficacious in terms of disease control with comparable mildly increased acute side effects.

Keywords: acute side effects; conventional chemoradiotherapy; dfs; locally advanced head neck cancer; pure accelerated radiotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Duration of completion of radiation in weeks and the respective number of patients represented in two different fractionation schedules.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Grades of oral mucositis during the treatment and follow-up till complete recovery of mucositis in two different fractionation schedules
Figure 3
Figure 3. The Kaplan Meier survival curve according to different fractionation schedules. The median DFS was not reached in six fractions/week schedule. The median DFS was 18 months in five fractions/week schedule. The difference in DFS was statistically significant (P=0.035)
DFS: Disease-free survival
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