Impact of the addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy for oropharyngeal cancer in 2003-2004: Population-based study from the Province of Ontario, Canada

Head Neck. 2015 Oct;37(10):1461-9. doi: 10.1002/hed.23777. Epub 2014 Jul 21.

Abstract

Background: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) became the standard of care for locoregionally advanced head and neck cancers based on clinical trials but its effectiveness at the community level is not reported.

Methods: We conducted a population-based comparative effectiveness study of all 571 patients with oropharyngeal cancer in Ontario Canada (2003-2004) that describes the patients and the treatments and compares concurrent CRT to radiotherapy (RT) alone.

Results: When comparing the outcomes (CRT vs RT) for all patients or patients eligible for either treatment, for patients of centers with the "higher use" of CRT to patients of the 'lower use' centers and comparing all centers, we found no overall or disease-specific advantage to CRT over RT alone. There was also no difference in recurrence-free survival, pattern of recurrences, or distant control.

Conclusion: In Ontario (2003-2004), in daily clinical practice, the addition of concurrent CRT to RT had little impact on survival in patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma.

Keywords: chemoradiotherapy; oropharyngeal cancer; outcome; population-based research; radiotherapy.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / adverse effects
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Chemoradiotherapy / adverse effects
  • Chemoradiotherapy / methods*
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
  • Ontario
  • Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / mortality
  • Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Registries
  • Survival Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome