title: Concurrent chemoradiation in the treatment of head and neck cancer.
abstract: The concurrent use of chemotherapy with radiation in the management of head and neck cancer has been shown in several randomized studies and two recent meta-analyses to result in statistically and clinically significant gains in locoregional control and overall survival. This article highlights and summarizes the results of selected randomized studies. Concurrent single-agent chemotherapy trials, hypoxic cell sensitizer trials, and multiagent chemotherapy trials are presented. Trials employing concurrent chemoradiation in the postoperative setting, trials employing concurrent chemoradiation with an altered fractionation scheme, and promising results using concurrent chemoradiation in the previously radiated patient are presented. Current ongoing trials and future directions in concurrent chemoradiation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. bruce.haffty@yale.edu
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Haffty
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents