Can SABR Help Avoid Systemic Therapy in Oligometastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck?

When treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy alone, patients were spared from toxicities of systemic therapy while achieving similar overall survival to those treated with SABR and systemic chemotherapy.

The standard approach for metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) has been systemic chemotherapy, although it is associated with significant toxicity and quality-of-life (QoL) deterioration. For patients with oligometastatic disease — an intermediate clinical state between locoregional and widely metastatic cancer — targeted therapies such as stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) may provide prolonged survival with more-acceptable toxicity. In this phase 2 trial (NCT03070366), 69 patients with SCCHN and one to three oligometastases were randomized to either SABR alone or with chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, platinum, cetuximab).

The primary endpoint — 1-year overall survival (OS) without QoL deterioration — was…

Reviewing Author

Hyunseok Kang, MD, MPH, FACP

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPIN Therapeutics; Bayer; Remix Therapeutics; MitoImmune; LG Chem; Coherus; Hanmi Pharma

RoyaltiesBMJ Publishing

Grant/Research SupportNRG Oncology

Editorial BoardsHead and Neck; Cancer Medicine; Korean Journal of Head and Neck Oncology