Compliance and Outcomes in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Alternating Chemoradiotherapy in Clinical Practice

Abstract

Compliance to the chemo-radiotherapy was very poor. The response rate was lower than that reported in clinical trials, whereas overall survival was comparable. The alternating chemo-radiotherapy is a very complex treatment that cannot be easily applied in clinical practice; a careful selection of patients is mandatory not only considering oncologic and medical criteria, but also the level of awareness of the patient and his family.

Complementary and alternative medicine use in patients with head and neck cancers in Europe

“…This reported use is even lower when compared with specific diagnostic groups, such as breast, gynaecological or stomach cancer, suggesting less attention to other (complementary) treatment options. This is not surprising, given the compliance issues reported in the literature even with conventional treatments (Franciosi et al . 2003).…”

Patient compliance for postoperative radiotherapy and survival outcome of women with stage I endometrioid endometrial cancer

“…Association between patient non‐compliance for radiotherapy and decreased treatment outcome has been reported in various types of cancer including breast and head‐neck cancers . However, evidence examining the effects of patient compliance on survival outcome has been lacking in endometrial cancer.…”

Treatment Adherence in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy: Challenges for Nursing

“…The ability to adhere to these extended and toxic treatments is a major issue in the care of head and neck cancer patients. The literature indicates that adherence rates in this population are well below 50% (Franciosi et al, 2003;Khalil et al, 2003), even though the ability to achieve positive outcomes is directly related to completion of treatment within a predefined window of time.…”

“…In fact, less than 5% of all cancer patients are enrolled in clinical trails (ACS, 2006), thus these adherence rates are highly misleading. The handful of studies which have been done with patients in the community bear out the drastic difference, as they demonstrate treatment adherence rates of well below 50% (Franciosi et al, 2003;Khalil et al, 2003). Franciosi et al (2003) evaluated the use of combination chemotherapy-radiation treatment in the head and neck cancer population.…”

“…The handful of studies which have been done with patients in the community bear out the drastic difference, as they demonstrate treatment adherence rates of well below 50% (Franciosi et al, 2003;Khalil et al, 2003). Franciosi et al (2003) evaluated the use of combination chemotherapy-radiation treatment in the head and neck cancer population. They noted low adherence rates to treatment outside the context of a clinical trial compared with the same regimen delivered as part of a clinical trial (45% discontinued treatment as compared with 26% in the clinical trial).…”