Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with CDGP/5-FU for head and neck cancer

We investigated the efficacy and safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with CDGP/5-FU for 15 head and neck squamous cell carcinomas from July 2004 to March 2008. Seven patients were clinical stage III, six were stage IV A and two were stage IV B. Radiotherapy was 60-66 Gy and two courses of 5-FU 700mg/m2 on days 1-5 and CDGP 70mg/m2 on day five were administered concurrently with radiotherapy. The median follow-up period was 22 months (range 4-41 months). Eleven cases (73.3%) had a complete response to treatment in the primary lesions and three cases (20%) had a partial response. The three-year overall survival rate was 93% and the three-year local control rate was 79%. Grade 3 or greater acute adverse events were leucopenia in 33.3%, thrombocytopenia in 33.3% and pharyngeal mucositis in 26.6%. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with CDGP/5-FU seemed to be effective for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.