Chemoselection combined with alternating chemoradiotherapy or surgery for hypopharyngeal cancer

In order to make possible organ preservation, since 2007 our hospital has performed induction chemotherapy (ICT) with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (PF) for hypopharyngeal cancer as chemoselection, followed by alternating chemoradiotherapy (ACRT) with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil in (TPF) good responders and curative surgery was used in poor responders.

Twenty-six patients with stage III to stage IVB hypopharyngeal cancer received ICT. Eleven of the patients were classified as poor responders and received curative surgery. The remaining 15 patients were classified as good responders. Three of these patients underwent curative surgery, and the remaining 12 underwent ACRT.

The primary lesions in the 12 ACRT patients responded completely to treatment without severe late toxicities. The estimated 3-year laryngectomy-free rate for all 26 patients was 23%. The estimated 3-year overall survival rates for all 26 patients, 12 patients treated with ACRT, and 14 patients who underwent curative surgery, were 79%, 75%, and 84%, respectively.

The patients who underwent ACRT showed no significant difference in overall survival compared with the patients who underwent curative surgery. All the patients were able to proceed with this series of therapy, indicating that ICT with PF could be a feasible tool for choosing good responders. Because ACRT with TPF had a high response rate and fewer severe toxicities, this treatment could be safe and have enough impact to control hypopharyngeal cancer in good responders.

4. Laryngoscope, 126:1349-1353, 2016.