Simultaneous chemoradiation in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer

Fifty-eight patients with either advanced or unresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomly selected to receive either twice daily radiation alone or twice daily radiation plus concomitant chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil). There was no advantage in survival or time to progression with the addition of chemotherapy to twice daily radiation for patients with advanced resectable cancers. In the group of patients with unresectable cancers, however, there was a statistically significant advantage to the addition of chemotherapy, both in terms of disease-free survival and date to progression.