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Combination of Docetaxel-Carboplatin Allows for Outpatient Palliative Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: Presented at ASCO

By Ed Susman

CHICAGO, IL -- June 1, 2003 -- Palliative treatment of patients with advanced head and neck cancer is feasible and can result in long-term survival, according to results of an ongoing study.

"About half of our patients have survived for more than 2 years with this regimen," said Marc Holzgraefe, MD, a medical oncologist at Klinikum Kassel, in Kassel, Germany, during his poster presentation here May 31^st at the 39^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. "We have found that [survival time] to be astonishing, considering that, historically, patients with metastatic head and neck cancer survive just 6 months to a year."

In this study, patients receive a weekly combination regimen of docetaxel 35 mg/m² and carboplatin over a 6-week period on an outpatient basis. The treatment is repeated if the patient shows signs of disease progression.

From November 2000 to November 2002, Dr. Holzgraefe and his colleagues recruited 48 women and 7 men with recurrent head and neck cancer. He said 19 patients had hypopharynx cancer; others had cancers of the tongue, oropharynx, larynx, tonsils, and upper palate. Prior to receiving palliative care, 48 of the patients had received radiation therapy; 34 had undergone chemotherapy, and 36 had undergone surgery.

Dr. Holzgraefe said few patients experienced grade 3 or 4 toxicities as a result of their treatment. One patient experienced grade 3 leukocytopenia; 1 experienced thrombocytopenia; 4 had grade 3 alopecia; 6 had grade 3 nausea/vomiting; 2 had grade 4 diarrhoea, and 1 had grade 3 diarrhoea; 4 had grade 4 stomatitis and 1 had grade 3 stomatitis, he reported.

By delivering effective chemotherapy for palliation as an outpatient procedure, patients' quality of life was preserved, Dr. Holzgraefe said. "The goal in chemotherapy is not only to prolong the patient's survival time," he said, " but also to improve their quality of life, reduce pain, and make life worth living again."

"Weekly docetaxel and carboplatin combination therapy is highly effective for tumour and symptom control in patients with recurrent head and neck cancer," Dr. Holzgraefe said. "This weekly regimen resulted in tolerable toxicity and may be safely administered on an outpatient basis."


[Study title: Docetaxel -- Carboplatin for Palliative Chemotherapy in Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer. Abstract 2045]

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