Concomitant boost radiotherapy of supraglottic cancer--preliminary results, morbidity

Forty-two patients with supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma were irradiated with Co60 using concomitant boost technique, a variant of accelerated fractionation. This technique is characterized by administering the boost as a second daily fraction during the basic wide-field irradiations. Daily dose in the first 4 weeks was 1.8 Gy and during the last 2 weeks it was 1.6 Gy twice daily with 4-6 hours separation. Total dose ranged from 60 to 76 Gy, median 66 Gy. The treatment time ranged from 36 to 56, median 42 days. Acute mucosal reactions were more severe than those of conventional irradiation but acceptable. The follow-up time ranged from 9 to 31 months, median 16 months. The actuarial 18 months survival for all patients was 75%. The actuarial 18 months control for primary site and lymph node was 75% for T1-2 stage, and 47% for T3-4 stage. Severe late complications were not observed so far.