Head and neck cancers are rapidly proliferating
and relatively radiosensitive tumors. The increase in the
number of daily fractions and the decrease in total treatment
time give promising results in clinical practice. Patients
and Methods: 20 patients diagnosed with head
and neck cancer between August 2000 and July 2001
participated in this study. Median age was 63 years
(range: 42-78). The tumors were mainly located in the
larynx (40%), and in the hypopharynx (25%). Daily doses
of 1.5 Gy thrice a day in 6-h intervals were given on each
of 12 consecutive days with the exception of weekends.
Results: Median follow-up was 22 months (range: 1-62).
The overall response rate was 90%, and grade IIII early
toxicity was 24%. No grade IV early toxicity was observed.
Grade IV late toxicity was observed just in 1 case.
5-year rates for locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis,
progression-free survival, and overall survival were
45, 20, 20, and 25%, respectively. Conclusion: Our schedule
was acceptable regarding the toxicity. However, the
high incidence of locoregional failures urges us to modify
the treatment modality.
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