Special Care Patterns for Elderly HNSCC Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy
University Hospital Freiburg
Summary
The number of elderly head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients is increasing; however, the evidence regarding the ideal treatment for this often vulnerable and frail patient cohort is limited. Although the benefit of concomitant chemotherapy has been reported to decrease in elderly HNSCC patients based on the MACH-NC meta-analysis, it remains unknown whether state-of-the art radiotherapy techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), modern supportive treatments and alternative chemotherapy fractionation (e.g., cisplatin weekly) may have altered this observation. The objective of this retrospective multinational multicenter study is to determine the oncological outcomes of elderly patients (≥65 years) with locally advanced HNSCCs undergoing definitive (chemo-)radiation and to investigate the influence of concomitant chemotherapy on overall survival and progression-free survival after adjusting for potential confounder variables such as age, performance status and comorbidity burden.
Eligibility
- Age range
- 65+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * definitive (chemo-)radiotherapy of locoregionally advanced (cT3-4 and/or cN+) head-and-neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx * primary treatment since 2005 * age ≥65 years at the time of (chemo-)radiotherapy Exclusion Criteria: * adjuvant (chemo-)radiotherapy * history of previous head-and-neck cancers or radiotherapy in the head-and-neck region * distant metastases at (chemo-)radiotherapy initiation (cM1) * HNSCCs of the nasopharynx, salivary glands, skin or with unknown primary
Locations (18)
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimore, Maryland
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew York, New York
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, Ohio
- Division of Radiation Oncology, The Ohio State University WexnerColumbus, Ohio
- Radiation Oncology Department, German Oncology CenterLimassol
- Brno University HospitalBrno