Definitive radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity: a single-institution experience.

backgroundSurgery is standard of care for oral cavity cancer (OCC). We provide a single-institution experience using definitive radiotherapy (RT) with or without concurrent systemic therapy for primary unresectable OCC. PATIENTS AND

methodsWe retrospectively examined 49 patients with non-metastatic primary unresectable OCC treated with definitive RT between 2000 and 2019. The majority of patients (63.3%) were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy while 26.5% were given single-agent cetuximab weekly simultaneous to definitive RT. Five patients were treated with definitive RT alone because of limited disease and no nodal involvement.

resultsMedian follow-up was 73 months (range, 6-236 months), median progression free survival (PFS) was 42 months (range, 2-157 months), median local disease-free survival (LDFS) was 44 months (range, 2-157 months) and median overall survival (OS) from the time of RT initiation was 52 months (range, 5-236 months). There were 65.3% locoregional failures, 84.4% local and 15.6% distant metastasis. The majority of patients with local failure presented with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Stage III-IV disease (59.2%). The 5-year Kaplan-Meier estimates for OS (III-IV

conclusionsDefinitive RT with or without concurrent systemic agents in patients with unresectable OCC resulted in an eloquent rate of locoregional control and good overall survival rates and is currently the best available treatment option in this patient collective.