title: Is chemoradiation as effective as surgery with postoperative radiotherapy for locally advanced (operable) head and neck cancer? A retrospective observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether chemoradiation (CX) is as effective as surgery with postoperative radiotherapy (SX) for operable, locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of 78 patients with operable stage III or IV cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract who were treated by CX (n = 25) or SX (n = 53) during a 20-year period was undertaken.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fewer patients relapsed regionally when treated by SX than by CX (p = 0.006). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in local recurrence, distant metastasis, 2-year survival rate, or 5-year survival rate between the two patient groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggesting that CX is not as effective as SX for patients with operable LAHNC calls for a randomized trial comparing CX to SX in such cases.
authors.forename: Federico L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Ampil
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caldito
authors.forename: Glenn M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Gary V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: Prakash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neupane
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010039:Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies