3-weekly or weekly cisplatin concurrently with radiotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck - a multicentre, retrospective analysis

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin is standard for patients (pts) with loco-regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA-SCCHN) and for patients with resected SCCHN with high-risk features. The standard regimen includes 3-weekly cisplatin, but weekly regimens are often used to lower toxicity. Reaching a cumulative dose of ≥200 mg/m cisplatin was shown being associated with improved outcome. We herein investigated cumulative dose reached and toxicities between the 3-weekly and weekly cisplatin regimens with concurrent radiotherapy. Multicentre, retrospective analysis of all patients undergoing combined RCT with cisplatin treated at 3 centres in Switzerland between 06/2008 and 12/2015. Three hundred fourteen pts. were included (3-weekly, N = 127; weekly, N = 187). Median cumulative cisplatin dose was 200 mg/m (IQR 150-300) for pts. treated with a 3-weekly schedule and 160 mg/m (120-240) for the weekly schedule, consequently more pts. treated with a 3-weekly schedule reached a cumulative dose ≥200 mg/m (75.6% vs. 47.1%, p