title: A randomized trial of preoperative radiotherapy in cancer of the oropharynx and hypopharynx.
abstract: One hundred patients with stage II and stage III cancer of the oropharynx and hypopharynx were treated under a protocol in which they were randomly selected for treatment by surgery alone or by combined preoperative radiotherapy and surgery. The schedule of preoperative radiation therapy chosen was 2,000 rads from a cobalt 60 machine delivered in five days. Eighty-six of the patients were evaluable at three years; there was no difference in the outcome of the treatment of the two groups. A similar study is urgently needed to determine the value of postoperative radiotherapy in the management of similar cancers.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011300:Preoperative Care