NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters Health) -- People with advanced throat cancer
are more likely to survive if they have an additional three cycles of
chemotherapy during radiation treatment compared with those treated with
radiation alone, a new study suggests.
The findings, published in the December 15th issue of the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute, confirm the results of several previous studies.
In the study of 226 people with advanced cancers of the oropharynx (the
part of the throat that includes the lower part of the tongue and the tonsils),
those treated with radiochemotherapy had a 3-year overall survival of 51% versus
31% for those treated with radiation alone.
Patients receiving radiochemotherapy survived a median of 29.2 months
compared with a median survival of 15.4 months in the radiation-only group,
reported Dr. Gilles Calais of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Tours, France,
and colleagues.
However, the authors note that toxicity, especially effects on the
delicate mucosa lining the throat, is a problem with the combined approach.
"Acute mucosal toxicity is clearly the most important limiting factor,"
they write, adding that "the ability to reduce this toxic effect will play a
significant role in determining the acceptance of this type of treatment."
The findings ".add to a growing list of trials" that show superior
survival and control of the cancer with the combined treatments approach,
according to an editorial by Dr. Arlene A. Forastiere of The Johns Hopkins
Oncology Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and Dr. Andy Trotti of the H. Lee
Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Forastiere and Trotti say that radiochemotherapy can now be recommended as
the standard of care for locally advanced carcinoma of the oropharynx.
