title: Curative treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma : Organ preservation strategies in clinical routine in German-speaking countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), there are currently no official standard of care guidelines in German-speaking countries, with the exception of oral cavity cancer. In order to learn about the applied treatment modalities in the clinical routine, we conducted a web-based survey to evaluate the local standards of palliative and curative treatment of HNSCC. This article focuses on the curative treatment options and organ preservation strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The survey consisted of a web-based questionnaire that was performed between November 2013 and July 2014. The questionnaire included ten multiple-choice questions and four open questions in the section about curative treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether, 62 of the 204 addressed centers participated in the survey. For primary chemoradiation (CRT), most centers used a platinum-based chemotherapy (52/54, 96.3 %). Induction chemotherapy (ICT) was offered in 37 of the 62 centers (60 %). In oral cavity cancer, CRT and ICT were used in 37.5 and 4.3 % of the cases, respectively. In oropharyngeal cancer, CRT and ICT were applied in 44.5 and 10.3 % of cases, respectively. For hypopharyngeal cancer, 44.8 % of the patients received CRT and 11.8 % received ICT, while for laryngeal cancer 35.9 % received CRT and 9.4 % underwent ICT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data showed that a variety of treatments are used for HNSCC within German-speaking countries. Many centers offer ICT. The majority of the hospitals uses platinum-based therapy as a conservative first-line option in their organ preservation protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head & Neck Surgery and Oncology, Head & Neck Cancer Center of the University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. t.kurzweg@uke.de.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurzweg
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Head & Neck Cancer Center Ulm, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimmeyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head & Neck Surgery and Oncology, Head & Neck Cancer Center of the University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knecht
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Head & Neck Cancer Center Ulm, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head & Neck Surgery and Oncology, Head & Neck Cancer Center of the University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C-J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head & Neck Surgery and Oncology, Head & Neck Cancer Center of the University Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Lörincz
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Head & Neck Cancer Center Ulm, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Schuler
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Head & Neck Cancer Center Ulm, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laban
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000633:toxicity; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D060828:Induction Chemotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D059351:Organ Sparing Treatments / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Chemoradiotherapy; Laryngeal cancer; Oral cavity; Pharyngeal cancer; Questionnaire