Phase II study of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine and cisplatin in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine and cisplatin in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). In total, 37 patients with stage III or IV SCCHN were enrolled on the study. The chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of intravenous cisplatin of 80 mg m^-2 on day 1 and oral capecitabine 825 mg m^-2 twice daily from day 1 to day 14 at 3-week intervals. The radiotherapy (1.8-2.0 Gy 1 fraction day^-1 to a total dose of 70-70.2 Gy) was delivered to the primary tumour site and neck. The primary tumour sites were as follows: oral cavity (n=6), oropharynx (n=11), hypopharynx (n=8), larynx (n=3), nasopharynx (n=6), and paranasal sinus (n=3). After the chemoradiotherapy, 29 complete responses (78.4%) and 6 partial responses (16.2%) were confirmed. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred only in two patients, plus grade 3 febrile neutropenia was observed only in one patient. At a median follow-up duration of 19.8 months, the estimated overall survival and progression-free survival rate at 2-year was 76.8 and 57.9%, respectively. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine and cisplatin was found to be well tolerated and effective in patients with locally advanced SCCHN.