Full-dose reirradiation combined with chemotherapy was feasible in patients with inoperable HNC. The incidence and severity of late toxicity was markedly increased in comparison to that observed after the first irradiation. Median survival was better than that generally obtained using palliative chemotherapy alone. A small proportion of patients were long-term disease-free survivors.

BACKGROUND Primary head and neck mucosal melanoma (HNMM) has a poor prognosis with a low local control rate and frequent distant metastases. The objective of the current study was to determine the impact of postoperative radiotherapy on local control and survival. METHODS One hundred forty‐two patients with primary HNMM treated between 1979 and 1997 were reviewed. Of these, 69 patients with confirmed primary mucosal melanoma, absence of metastatic disease, and definitive management by surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy and follow‐up at the Institut Gustave‐Roussy (Villejuif) were selected. The site of primary HNMM was sinonasal in 46 patients, oral in 19 patients, and pharyngolaryngeal in 4 patients. Twenty‐two patients (32%) had a locally advanced tumor (T3–T4) and 17 patients had regional lymph node metastases after pathologic examination (pN > 0). Thirty patients underwent surgery alone and 39 received postoperative radiotherapy. Patients with locally advanced tumors had received postoperative radiotherapy more frequently than those with small tumors (P = 0.02). RESULTS Thirty‐seven patients (54%) experienced local disease recurrence and 47 patients (68%) developed distant metastasis. The overall survival rates were 47% at 2 years and 20% at 5 years. In the Cox multivariate analysis, patients with early T‐classification tumors who received postoperative radiotherapy had a better local disease‐free survival (P = 0.004 and P = 0.05, respectively) compared with patients with late T‐classification tumors who did not receive postoperative radiotherapy. Patients with advanced T‐classification and pN > 0 stage had a shorter distant metastasis disease‐free survival compared with patients with early T‐classification and pN < 0 stage. Patients with advanced T‐classification tumors had a shorter overall survival compared with patients with early T‐classification tumors (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS The prognosis of patients with HNMM was poor. Patients had a high rate of distant metastasis and a low rate of local control. The current study suggested that postoperative radiotherapy increased local control even for patients with small tumors. Cancer 2005. © 2004 American Cancer Society.

PURPOSE: To review incidence and analyze profile of long-term complete responders among patients with undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) treated at a single institution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We present a cohort of 20 long-term unmaintained complete responders to chemotherapy for metastatic UCNT treated at the Institut Gustave Roussy between April 1978 and November 1996. A patient was considered a long-term survivor if he or she was disease-free for more than 36 months without treatment after obtaining a complete response by chemotherapy. Patient characteristics were as follows: sex, 17 men and three women; median age, 28 years (range, 9 to 62 years); median World Health Organization performance status, 1; and initial tumor-node-metastasis stage (International Union Against Cancer–American Joint Committee on Cancer, 1987) of T3 to T4, 60%, and of N2b to N3, 75%. Epstein-Barr virus serology was characteristic in 19 patients. Of 16 pretreated patients, 11 were pretreated by radiotherapy alone and five by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thirteen patients had metastatic relapses of locally controlled UCNT. Tumor sites were bone in 15 patients, lung in four, and liver (biopsy-proven) in two. Chemotherapy included the following: cisplatin, bleomycin, and fluorouracil in five patients; bleomycin, epirubicin, and cisplatin in seven patients; fluorouracil, mitomycin, epirubicin, and cisplatin in four patients; and fluorouracil, bleomycin, epirubicin, and cisplatin in one patient. Three patients were treated with platinum-based regimens before 1985. Patients received a median of six cycles (range, three to 13). Thirteen patients with bone metastases received consolidating radiotherapy. RESULTS: As of June 1999, 14 of 20 patients were still alive with no evidence of disease after treatment (disease-free survival time, 82+ to 190+ months), three patients died of other causes while in complete response at 61, 109, and 208 months after treatment, and three patients died of disease at 42, 89, and 115 months after treatment. Long-term complete responses were obtained in both bone and visceral disease. CONCLUSION: Our data support a curative role for chemotherapy in metastatic UCNT and are a major incentive to continue research for better combinations to increase the percentage of patients with metastatic UCNT who attain complete responses and long-term survival.

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