• Kyun Chan Lee, Seok Ho Lee, Yuna Lee, Se Hoon Park, Jinny Park, Eun Kyung Cho, Dong Bok Shin, Jae Hoon Lee, Dong Young Kim, and Seon Tae Kim.
• Department of Radiation Oncology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
• Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2008 May 1; 71 (1): 187-91.

PurposeWith the improvement concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in the management of patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), distant failures have become a more relevant problem in terms of survival. The primary objective of this Phase II study is to assess the feasibility of docetaxel and cisplatin consolidation after primary CCRT for patients with HNSCC.Methods And MaterialsPatients with locoregionally advanced HNSCC received chemotherapy with three cycles of cisplatin, 100 mg/m(2), on Days 1, 22, and 43. Concurrent radiotherapy to the primary tumor and neck was given in a daily dose of 2 Gy to a total dose of 70-70.2 Gy over 7 weeks. After completion of CCRT, patients without evidence of disease progression received an additional four cycles of consolidation chemotherapy with docetaxel, 75 mg/m(2), and cisplatin, 75 mg/m(2), every 3 weeks.ResultsOf 33 patients, 27 (81%) completed CCRT. After CCRT, three complete and 19 partial responses were recorded, giving an overall response rate of 67%. Of 19 patients who went to the consolidation phase, only 4 (21%) received all four cycles of docetaxel and cisplatin. Causes of failure of consolidation chemotherapy were toxicity in 11 patients, including three treatment-related deaths, and progression in 4 patients. Three patients died of sepsis during the consolidation phase. Median survival was 11 months for all patients and 8 months for those treated with consolidation chemotherapy.ConclusionThe poor compliance and high incidence of severe toxicities prompted no further evaluation of this consolidation chemotherapy after CCRT.

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