Curative treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma : Organ preservation strategies in clinical routine in German-speaking countries.

introductionFor the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), there are currently no official standard of care guidelines in German-speaking countries, with the exception of oral cavity cancer. In order to learn about the applied treatment modalities in the clinical routine, we conducted a web-based survey to evaluate the local standards of palliative and curative treatment of HNSCC. This article focuses on the curative treatment options and organ preservation strategies. MATERIALS AND

methodsThe survey consisted of a web-based questionnaire that was performed between November 2013 and July 2014. The questionnaire included ten multiple-choice questions and four open questions in the section about curative treatment.

resultsAltogether, 62 of the 204 addressed centers participated in the survey. For primary chemoradiation (CRT), most centers used a platinum-based chemotherapy (52/54, 96.3 %). Induction chemotherapy (ICT) was offered in 37 of the 62 centers (60 %). In oral cavity cancer, CRT and ICT were used in 37.5 and 4.3 % of the cases, respectively. In oropharyngeal cancer, CRT and ICT were applied in 44.5 and 10.3 % of cases, respectively. For hypopharyngeal cancer, 44.8 % of the patients received CRT and 11.8 % received ICT, while for laryngeal cancer 35.9 % received CRT and 9.4 % underwent ICT.

conclusionOur data showed that a variety of treatments are used for HNSCC within German-speaking countries. Many centers offer ICT. The majority of the hospitals uses platinum-based therapy as a conservative first-line option in their organ preservation protocols.