Outcomes of laser thermal therapy for recurrent head and neck cancer
This article was presented at the 2007 AAO–HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, Washington DC, September 19, 2007.
Received 15 November 2007; received in revised form 13 November 2009; accepted 13 November 2009.
Abstract
Objective
To review the outcomes of a phase II study using laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT) as a palliative treatment for 106 patients with recurrent head and neck tumors.
Study Design
Retrospective study.
Setting
Tertiary hospital in the United States.
Subjects and Methods
The primary endpoints were tumor response and survival. Prognostic values were assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results
The best results were seen in oral cavity tumors, in which mean survival was 29.1 months, as compared to neck tumors (mean 14.4 ± 6.9 months; range 7.5-20.7 months; with a 95% confidence interval). Further analysis showed that clinical factors such as gender, smoking, and alcohol use were not indicators of poor prognosis, whereas neck disease and tumor stage at first treatment were relevant factors.
Conclusion
In this study, 40 out of 106 patients treated by LITT remained alive at the end of our follow-up, and a complete response was seen in 24 (22.6%) patients. The highest response rate was seen in oral cavity tumors, which suggests that tumor location at this site may be a predictor of favorable outcome with LITT.
aDepartment of Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
bDepartment of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
cDepartment of Head and Neck Surgery–Otolaryngology, University of Miami, Miami, FL
dHealth Informatics Department, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
eDepartment of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Corresponding author: Marcos B. Paiva, MD, PhD, 10833 LeConte Ave 62-132, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1624
Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.
ABSTRACT