Cetuximab plus Postoperative Radiotherapy for Intermediate Risk Head and Neck Cancer?

The addition of cetuximab to postoperative radiotherapy improved disease-free survival but did not confer an overall survival benefit and was associated with increased toxicity.

Postoperative chemoradiation with cisplatin is the standard of care for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in patients with high risk for recurrence (e.g., pathologic findings of positive margins, extranodal extension of tumor). Whether patients with intermediate-risk disease would benefit from concurrent systemic therapy with postoperative radiation is unclear.

This multicenter, open-label, randomized phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy of adding cetuximab to postoperative radiotherapy (RT) in patients with resected intermediate-risk HNSCC (close [<5 mm] resection margins, pathologic stage T3 or T4a tumors, pathologic N2 disease, lymphovascular or perineural invasion, or T2 oral cavity cancer with >5mm depth of …

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