Docetaxel offers additional benefit for head and neck cancer
Addition of docetaxel to induction chemotherapy regimens improves survival for patients with unresectable head and neck cancer, according to two studies published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The first study (2007;
357:1695) looked at 358 patients with previously
untreated stage III or IV advanced squamous-cell carcinoma of the head
and neck and no distant metastases. Patients were randomised to receive
standard induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil, either
with or without docetaxel. Patients without disease progression went
on to receive radiotherapy.
At 32.5 months’ median follow-up,
docetaxel-treated patients experienced longer progression-free survival
(primary endpoint) than those on the standard regimen (median 11.0 versus
8.2 months; P=0.007). Overall survival was also better in the docetaxel-treated
group (18.8 versus 14.5 months; P=0.02).
In the second study (ibid,
p1705), researchers randomised 501 similar
patients to receive an induction chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin and
fluorouracil with or without docetaxel, followed by a programme of chemotherapy
and radiation.
After a minimum of two years’ follow-up the median overall survival
for patients receiving docetaxel was 71 months, compared with 30 months
for patients not receiving the drug (P=0.006).
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