Background. Using chemotherapy as a part of each treatment fraction remains unexplored. This study integrates the concomitant administration of carboplatin with hyperfractionated irradiation by optimizing chemopotentiation through carboplatin administration with each irradiation fraction.Methods. From February 1993 to August 1996, 52 patients with advanced head and neck cancer were treated on a twice-aday chemoradiotherapy schedule. Each fraction consisted of 115 cGy preceded by 5 mg/m 2 of carboplatin. Treatment was given 5 days a week up to total doses of 350 mg/m 2 of carboplatin + 8050 cGy in 7 weeks.Results. All (100%) of patients tolerated the treatment (83% as scheduled). Acute and late toxicities were moderate. Rates of 96% complete response (CR) and 4% partial response (PR) were achieved. At 52 months, local control and cause-specific survival rates are 72% and 59%, respectively. Nodal control rate is 95%.Conclusion. These results show potential for improvement upon hyperfractionated radiotherapy alone and compare favorably with those of most reported trials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.