title: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in geriatric head and neck cancers.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to present our findings on the treatment completion rates and outcomes in geriatric patients with head and neck cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by definitive therapy.
  
  
  
  Geriatric patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were selected for this analysis. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated.
  
  
  
  Forty-six of 49 patients completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy (93.9%). The compliance to local treatment was 73.3% and the median OS was 49.9 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 22.0-77.8 months) in patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy for organ preservation (n = 15). In patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for technically unresectable disease, the corresponding figures were 82.06% and 9.0 months (95% CI = 5.9-12.1 months), respectively.
  
  
  
  Individualized neoadjuvant chemotherapy protocols in geriatric patients have high compliance rates to treatment and the median OS in geriatric patients treated for organ preservation is similar to that of young patients. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 886-892, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Vijay M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Vanita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Noronha
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Anant
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramaswamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dhumal
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Shashikant
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Juvekar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Supreeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arya
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahajan
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Cruz
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Research and Biostatistics, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.|Malabar Cancer Center, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Atanu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Kumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prabhash
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: elderly; geriatric; head and neck cancers; induction; neoadjuvant chemotherapy