Results of carbon ion radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Mizoe, Jun-etsu; Hasegawa, Azusa; Jingu, Keiichi; Takagi, Ryo; Bessyo, Hiroki; Morikawa, Takamichi; Tonoki, Morio; Tsuji, Hiroshi; Kamada, Tadashi; Tsujii, Hirohiko; Okamoto, Yoshitaka; for Organizing Committee for the Working Group for Head Neck Cancer,

doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2011.12.013

« Previous Next »Radiotherapy & Oncology
Volume 103, Issue 1 , Pages 32-37, April 2012

Results of carbon ion radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Jun-etsu Mizoe
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
- Corresponding author. Present address: Fondazione Centro Nazionale Adroterapia Oncologia (CNAO), Strada Privata Campeggi, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Azusa Hasegawa
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Keiichi Jingu
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Ryo Takagi
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Hiroki Bessyo
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Takamichi Morikawa
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Morio Tonoki
- Department of Oral Surgery, Ichikawa, Japan
Hiroshi Tsuji
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Tadashi Kamada
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Hirohiko Tsujii
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
Yoshitaka Okamoto
- Department of Otolaryngology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
for Organizing Committee for the Working Group for Head Neck Cancer

Received 26 August 2010; received in revised form 11 November 2011; accepted 28 December 2011. published online 10 February 2012.

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the efficacy of carbon ion radiotherapy for head-and-neck cancer in a phase II clinical trial.

Materials and methods

Between April 1997 and February 2006, 236 patients with locally advanced, histologically proven, and new or recurrent cancer of the head and neck were treated with carbon ions. The treatment dose was 64.0GyE/16 fractions/4weeks (or 57.6GyE/16 fractions/4weeks when the wide-range skin was included in the target volume).

Results

There were grade 3 acute skin reactions in 6% and grade 3 acute mucosal reactions in 10% with no acute reactions worse than grade 3, and grade 2 late skin reactions in 3% and grade 2 late mucosal reactions in 2% with no late reactions worse than grade 2. The 5-year local control rate, by histological type, was 75% for the 85 patients with malignant melanoma, 73% for the 69 with adenoid cystic carcinoma, 73% for the 27 with adenocarcinoma, 61% for the 13 with papillary adenocarcinoma, 61% for the 12 with squamous cell carcinoma and 24% for the 14 with sarcomas. The 5-year over-all survival rate was 68% for adenoid cystic carcinoma, 56% for adenocarcinoma and 35% for malignant melanoma.

Conclusions

Carbon ion radiotherapy for head and neck cancer showed the therapeutic effectiveness for malignant melanoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma without severe morbidity of the normal tissues.

Keywords: Carbon ion radiotherapy, Head and neck cancer, Particle therapy