[Comparison in strategies for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas between Japan and western countries]

The recent strategies for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) were reviewed and compared between Japan and western countries. The curative treatments for advanced HNSCC are radiotherapy and/or surgical resection. These standard treatment modalities are the same in both areas. However, combined treatment, especially including impact chemotherapy, was developed in western countries earlier than in Japan. The organ preservation modality to preserve the organ and physiological function has been under investigation in controlled randomized trials in western countries. Patients with advanced HNSCC, for example, achieving a complete response at the primary lesion after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by curative radiotherapy or concomitant chemoradiotherapy including impact chemotherapy, receive organ-sparing treatment. This strategy for advanced HNSCC in Japan promises to be widespread in future.