Abstract
Meta-analysis of the published results from 54 randomised controlled trials of adjuvant chemotherapy in head and neck cancer suggests that chemotherapy might increase absolute survival by 6.5% (95% confidence interval 3.1-9.9%). The odds ratio in favour of chemotherapy is 1.37 (95% confidence interval 1.24-1.5). Single-agent chemotherapy given synchronously with radiotherapy increased survival by 12.1% (95% confidence interval 5-19%). The benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy was less: a rate difference of 3.7% (95% confidence interval 0.9-6.5%). The results suggest that the investigation of optimal agents and scheduling for synchronous radiotherapy and chemotherapy might still be important in clinical trials in head and neck cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Munro, A. An overview of randomised controlled trials of adjuvant chemotherapy in head and neck cancer. Br J Cancer 71, 83–91 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1995.17
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1995.17
This article is cited by
-
Concurrent hyperfractionated chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: the prognostic impact of the overall treatment time and completion rates of chemotherapy
SpringerPlus (2015)
-
Impact of intra-arterial chemotherapy including internal carotid artery for advanced paranasal sinus cancers involving the skull base
British Journal of Cancer (2014)
-
Multicenter phase II study of weekly docetaxel, cisplatin, and S-1 (TPS) induction chemotherapy for locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck
BMC Cancer (2013)