Adding radiation therapy to surgery, compared with surgery alone, significantly improves overall survival in patients diagnosed with node-positive head and neck cancer, according to a study in the June issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology* Physics.
Radiation therapy commonly is used after surgery to treat some head and neck cancers, but few studies have been conducted to determine its impact on survival. Researchers in the departments of radiation oncology and otolaryngology and head and neck surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, sought to determine the impact of radiation and surgery on the overall survival of patients with head and neck cancer.
Between 1988 and 2001, 5,297 patients with a median age of 59 years who were diagnosed with node-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were treated with surgery, adjuvant radiation therapy or both. The patients were surveyed approximately 4.4 years after treatment, and researchers found that adding radiation therapy to surgery improved patients’ chance of survival by 25 percent in all nodal stages (N1– N3). This finding included patients with N1-stage disease, even though radiation therapy typically is recommended only for patients with N2- and N3-stage disease.
"This study provides evidence that radiation should be considered after surgery for most head and neck cancer patients with positive lymph nodes," said Johnny Kao, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology and lead author of the study.
"For these patients, adding radiation improves not only locoregional control but also greatly increases their chance for overall survival," Dr. Kao added. "The findings of this study should serve to enhance the use of adjuvant radiation as the most effective treatment method for these types of cancer."
