Decreased overall survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer receiving definitive radiotherapy and concurrent cetuximab: National Cancer Database analysis

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Decreased overall survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer receiving definitive radiotherapy and concurrent cetuximab: National Cancer Database analysis Via Head & Neck Abstract Background Recently, randomized trials have questioned the efficacy of cetuximab-based bioradiotherapy compared to chemoradiation for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx (HNSCC). We compared the OS of patients treated with radiotherapy alone (RTonly), chemoradiotherapy (chemoRT), and bioradiotherapy (cetuxRT). Methods Patients with stage III–IVB HNSCC treated with RTonly, chemoRT, or cetuxRT were identified in the National Cancer Database. OS was estimated using Cox proportional hazards. Analyses were conducted on the overall cohort and propensity matched cohorts. Results 31 014 patients were treated with RTonly (22%), chemoRT (72%), or cetuxRT (6%) from 2013 to 2016. The 2-year OS was 69% for RTonly, 79% for chemoRT, and 66% for cetuxRT (p < 0.001). In the overall and propensity-matched cohorts, chemoRT and RTonly were associated with improved OS as compared to cetuxRT (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion Compared to chemoRT or RTonly, cetuxRT is associated with decreased OS for patients with HNSCC, suggesting minimal benefit of bioradiotherapy in this population. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.