cancer, palliative radiotherapy, locally advanced, head neck

Locally advanced Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCCHN) represents a common oncologic pathology in older adults (OA). While radiotherapy represents a cornerstone in this context, it is unclear what is the optimal radiation regimen for SCCHN in the palliative setting, especially for OA. This article addresses issues related to palliative radiotherapy (PRT) in this setting with a focus on treatment modalities and toxicity. We also explore the use of quality of life and geriatric assessment in this setting...

The coronavirus disease 2019 posed an unprecedented strain to plastic surgery services. The scarcity of validated guidelines-at the beginning of this healthcare crisis-to direct clinical, ethical, transparent decision-making for head and neck cancer patients requiring palliative reconstructive surgery was a difficult situation. We report a 15-year-old girl with an advanced chemoresistant rare radiotherapy-induced mandibular osteosarcoma during the early phase of the pandemic in the United States in mid-March 2020, when official recommendations for triage were still developing...

Head and neck cancer is the eighth common type among all cancer types around the world. Its treatment comprises surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and /or a combination of restoration therapy and social support Conventional fraction size ranges from 1.8 to 3 Grays (Gy) per fraction over 4-6 weeks. The accumulative dose of radiation for the primary treatment of head and neck cancer treatment is 60 to 70 Gy, depending on the irradiation of the tumor. Ionizing Radiotherapy is used along with concurrent chemotherapy which is the standard treatment in locally advanced head and neck cancers...

The Canadian Cancer Society estimated that 220,400 new cases of cancer would be diagnosed in 2019. Of the affected patients, more than 60% will survive for 5 years or longer after their cancer diagnosis. Furthermore, nearly 40% will receive at least 1 course of radiotherapy (rt). Radiotherapy is used with both curative and palliative intent: to treat early-stage or locally advanced tumours (curative) and for symptom management in advanced disease (palliative). It can be delivered systemically (external-beam rt) or internally (brachytherapy)...

The assessment of tumour response during and after radiotherapy determines the subsequent management of patients (adaptation of treatment plan, monitoring, adjuvant treatment, rescue treatment or palliative care). In addition to its role in extension assessment and therapeutic planning, positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography provides useful functional information for the evaluation of tumour response. The objective of this article is to review published data on positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography as a tool for evaluating external radiotherapy for cancers...

The definition of 'head and neck cancer' (HNC) identifies squamous cell carcinoma arising from the pharynx, the larynx and the oral cavity. Most of them are induced by smoking and alcohol abuse, but tumours arising in the nasopharynx and in the oropharynx may be virus induced, Epstein-Barr virus and human papillomavirus, respectively. Medical oncologists are involved in HNC in locally advanced disease and in relapsed/metastatic disease not suitable for salvage radiotherapy or surgery. A close cooperation with surgeons and in particular with radiation oncologists is required in the first situation...

BACKGROUND: Concurrent chemotherapy with radiotherapy is the standard treatment for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer. Cetuximab can be used in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, the randomised studies that led to approval for its use in this setting excluded nasopharyngeal cancer. In the context of limited data for the use of cetuximab in nasopharyngeal cancer in the medical literature, this review aimed to summarise the current evidence for its use in both primary and recurrent or metastatic disease...

In metastatic or locally advanced head and neck tumors that present in frail patients or after chemotherapy progression, radiotherapy is normally used as a palliative treatment, with a high rate of symptom palliation and improvement in quality of life. However, there is controversy about what the optimal regimen is. Moreover, despite the poor prognosis of metastatic head and neck cancer, different retrospective studies have shown that a minority of patients with oligometastatic disease experience prolonged disease-free survival after adding curative radiotherapy treatment to the metastatic disease and/or primary tumor...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite the constantly growing number of elderly patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), the majority of clinical trials have been focusing on their younger counterparts. However, because of age-related changes and the resulting higher prevalence of frailty, senior people need an adapted evidence-based approach. RECENT FINDINGS: Recommendations presented in this article proceed from those relevant for the general patient population taking into consideration the individual process of aging...

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common malignant cancer occurring in the head and neck area, approximately 90% of the cases. Even in the cases of primary radical treatment (surgical, concomitant chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone), local recurrence or distal metastases are often observed. In patients with recurrent disease who are unable to receive radical treatment, the results of palliative chemotherapy are not satisfactory. The breakthrough in the therapy of advanced HNSCC was the approval of cetuximab in combination with chemotherapy in 2008...

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a frequent tumour arising from multiple anatomical subsites in the head and neck region. The treatment for early-stage disease is generally single modality, either surgery or radiotherapy. The treatment for locally advanced tumours is multimodal. For recurrent/metastatic HNSCC palliative chemotherapy is standard of care. The prognosis is limited and novel treatment approaches are urgently needed. HNSCC evades immune responses through multiple resistance mechanisms...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a conformal Short Course Accelerated Radiation therapy (SHARON) for symptomatic palliation of locally advanced or metastatic cancers in older patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a pooled analysis on patients aged ≥80 years selected between subjects enrolled in 3 phase I-II studies on a short course palliative treatment of advanced or metastatic cancer. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the symptoms response rate produced by accelerated radiotherapy delivered in 4 total fractions in twice a day...

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this systematic review was to identify and appraise the existing evidence of role of palliative radiotherapy for locally advanced non-metastatic head and neck cancer. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was conducted using Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases and relevant references were included. RESULTS: Literature search revealed a wide variation in dose fractionation regimens. Reported outcomes showed high efficacy and low rate of significant side effects, except in studies utilising higher doses of radiotherapy where higher grade toxicities were seen...

Radiotherapy is a major treatment modality for many cancers. Tumor response after radiotherapy determines the subsequent steps of the patient's management (surveillance, adjuvant or salvage treatment and palliative care). Tumor response assessed during radiotherapy offers a promising opportunity to adapt the treatment plan to reduced or increased target volume, to specifically target sub-volumes with relevant biological characteristics (metabolism, hypoxia, proliferation, etc.) and to further spare the organs at risk...

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy, tolerability and toxicity of three palliative radiotherapy (RT) schedules in locally advanced head and neck carcinoma (LAHNC), i.e. Quad Shot schedule, Christie schedule and conventional palliative schedule. METHODS: The patients were randomly divided into three groups of 30 each. Group I patients were planned for 14.8 Gy in 4 fractions over 2 days, repeated three weekly for two more cycles...

For early-stage head and neck cancer (HNC), surgery (S) or radiotherapy (RT) is a standard treatment. The multidisciplinary approach, which includes multimodality treatment with S followed by RT, with or without chemotherapy (CT) or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT), is required for locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC). CRT improves prognosis, locoregional control (LRC), and organ function in LAHNC, compared to RT alone. Prognosis in recurrent/metastatic HNC (R/M HNC) is dismal. Platinum-based CT, combined with the anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) antibody (Ab) cetuximab, is used in first-line setting, while no further validated options are available at progression...

CONTEXT: In India, a considerable proportion of patients with head and neck cancer present with locoregionally advanced disease. Symptom palliation becomes a major objective in these cases when they could not be considered for a curative approach. AIMS: The aim of this study is to assess the role of palliative radiotherapy for symptom control in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a retrospective study...

In patients with locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck, a multimodality treatment approach is recommended. The addition of platinum-based systemic therapy concurrently with radiation has been shown to be superior to radiation alone and is considered standard therapy for locally advanced disease. No study has shown superiority of induction therapy followed by chemoradiotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy alone. In the adjuvant setting only patients with nodal extracapsular extension or positive margins seem to benefit from chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone...

The treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and the neck depends on the disease's stage. In locally-advanced stage disease, multimodal treatment strategies, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, give the best outcome in terms of overall survival. Those treatments are not without negligeable adverse events, which can lead to late debilitating toxicities. In recurrent/metastatic disease, not amenable to surgery or radiation therapy, palliative chemotherapy is the most appropriate treatment...

PURPOSE: The purpose of the following study is to evaluate the efficacy of a twice-weekly hypofractionated palliative radiotherapy schedule in locally very advanced head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with locally very advanced, head and neck cancers were prospectively evaluated after twice-weekly palliative radiotherapy regimen of 32 Gy in 8 fractions. Median age was 55.5 years and the predominant primary site was oral cavity (46%). Majority (70...