Muhammad Shahid Iqbal1, Charles Kelly2, Josef Kovarik2, Bojidar Goranov3, Ghazia Shaikh2, David Morgan4, Werner Dobrowsky2, Vinidh Paleri5. 1. Department of Clinical Oncology, Northern Centre for Cancer Care, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. Electronic address: shahid.iqbal@nhs.net. 2. Department of Clinical Oncology, Northern Centre for Cancer Care, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. 3. Department of Clinical Oncology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, United Kingdom. 4. Department of Physics, Northern Centre for Cancer Care, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. 5. The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this systematic review was to identify and appraise the existing evidence of role of palliative radiotherapy for locally advanced non-metastatic head and neck cancer. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was conducted using Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases and relevant references were included. RESULTS: Literature search revealed a wide variation in dose fractionation regimens. Reported outcomes showed high efficacy and low rate of significant side effects, except in studies utilising higher doses of radiotherapy where higher grade toxicities were seen. Reported median overall survival was in the range of 3.3-17 months, but most studies reported median survival of around 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of palliative radiotherapy varies significantly. This is in contrast to regimens of curative radiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer, which are well standardised. Given the reported relatively short overall survival of this patient group, an ideal treatment should be of the shortest possible duration whilst ensuring effective palliation and minimal side effects. Future well designed trials are needed to evaluate quality of life and duration of side effects in addition to survival and severity of toxicities in this group of patients. Crown
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this systematic review was to identify and appraise the existing evidence of role of palliative radiotherapy for locally advanced non-metastatic head and neck cancer. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was conducted using Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases and relevant references were included. RESULTS: Literature search revealed a wide variation in dose fractionation regimens. Reported outcomes showed high efficacy and low rate of significant side effects, except in studies utilising higher doses of radiotherapy where higher grade toxicities were seen. Reported median overall survival was in the range of 3.3-17 months, but most studies reported median survival of around 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of palliative radiotherapy varies significantly. This is in contrast to regimens of curative radiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer, which are well standardised. Given the reported relatively short overall survival of this patient group, an ideal treatment should be of the shortest possible duration whilst ensuring effective palliation and minimal side effects. Future well designed trials are needed to evaluate quality of life and duration of side effects in addition to survival and severity of toxicities in this group of patients. Crown
Authors: Olgun Elicin; Paul Martin Putora; Marco Siano; Martina A Broglie; Christian Simon; Daniel Zwahlen; Gerhard F Huber; Giorgio Ballerini; Lorenza Beffa; Roland Giger; Sacha Rothschild; Sandro V Negri; Pavel Dulguerov; Guido Henke Journal: Front Oncol Date: 2019-10-24 Impact factor: 6.244
Authors: Muhammad Shahid Iqbal; Nick West; Neil Richmond; Josef Kovarik; Isabel Gray; Nick Willis; David Morgan; Gozde Yazici; Mustafa Cengiz; Vinidh Paleri; Charles Kelly Journal: Br J Radiol Date: 2020-09-24 Impact factor: 3.039
Authors: Alexander Fabian; Justus Domschikowski; Markus Hoffmann; Oliver Weiner; Claudia Schmalz; Jürgen Dunst; David Krug Journal: Front Oncol Date: 2021-06-04 Impact factor: 6.244