Hyperfractionated Irradiation with or without Concurrent Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Cure of locally advanced squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck is uncommon whether a single treatment, including high-dose external-beam irradiation, or a combination of treatments is used. The rate of relapse-free survival is approximately 25 percent, and most patients die from complications of progressive local disease. Repopulation of tumor cells during treatment, tumor hypoxia, and resistance to radiotherapy have all been implicated as causes of treatment failure after primary radiotherapy. 1 – 3 Accelerated fractionation irradiation, which shortens the total time of treatment, has been employed to increase the probability of locoregional control by reducing the risk of tumor repopulation. With . . .