• S Altmann and H Hoffmanns.
• Strahlentherapie und Radiologische Onkologie, Krankenhaus Maria-Hilf, Mönchengladbach.
• Strahlenther Onkol. 1999 Nov 1; 175 Suppl 4: 30-3.

BackgroundA considerable amount of experimental and clinical data prove the cytoprotective effect of amifostine on normal tissue exposed to different types of antineoplastic treatments. The present study examines its influence on the short-term toxicity of either radiotherapy alone or combined radio-chemotherapy in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.Patients And MethodsTwenty-three patients with advanced head and neck cancer, mainly Stage III and IV, were treated with preoperative radiation (n = 1), pre- as well as postoperative radiotherapy (n = 5), postoperative radiation (n = 9) or combined postoperative radio-chemotherapy (n = 6). Before each radiation application a total dose of 500 mg amifostine was administered intravenously over 15 minutes. The documentation of this unselected patient group was compared retrospectively to a historical control group comprising 17 patients.ResultsIn 15 patients (65%) of the amifostine group, therapy induced side effects such as mucositis and dermatitis of WHO Grade < or = 2 were detected, requiring interruptions of the radiotherapy (mean: 6.5, maximum 17 days). No mucosa or dermatologic toxicity of WHO Grade 3 or 4 was observed in this group. Significantly more acute toxicity was detected in the historical control group. Stomatitis or epitheliolysis of WHO Grade 3 occurred in 7 patients (41%). The side effects induced by the antineoplastic therapy caused an interruption of treatment in 15 patients (88%) (mean: 16, maximum 40 days; p = 0.0016).ConclusionThe application of amifostine before each radiation treatment seems to result in a distinct reduction of short-term toxicity of radiotherapy or combined radio-chemotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer, allowing for a better adherence to the planned radiation time schedule.

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