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Purpose: In a previous retrospective study, p105 AD, a proliferation-associated nuclear antigen density (AD), was found to be an independent prognostic factor for patients irradiated for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer. We sought to confirm this finding by analyzing patients entered on RTOG 9003, a Phase III randomized trial of altered fractionation radiotherapy., Methods and Materials: Paraffin blocks of pretreatment biopsies of the primary tumor of patients with Stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, or supraglottic larynx, or Stage II squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx or base of tongue entered on RTOG 9003 were prospectively collected at patient entry. From these paraffin blocks, areas of tumor were selected based on histologic examinations and sectioned. Nuclear suspensions were then prepared and processed for p105 antibody and DNA staining. Flow cytometric quantification of p105 labeling indices and DNA content were then performed for correlation with local-regional control and survival., Results: Paraffin blocks of tumor biopsies from 457 of 1073 patients entered were available for p105 determination. There was no significant difference in pretreatment characteristics between patients who had paraffin blocks available or not available. The median (range) of p105 labeling index (LI-C), p105 labeling index of cells in S phase (p105 LI-S), and p105 AD were 56 (range: 6-99), 8.255 (range: 0.913-23), and 67 (range: 5-364), respectively. Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors showed that T stage, N stage, Karnofsky performance status, and fractionation schedule were significant for local-regional control (p < 0.0001, 0.0011, <0.0001, and 0.007, respectively) and T stage, N stage, Karnofsky performance status, and tumor grade were significant for survival (p = 0.018, 0.002, <0.0001, and 0.0058, respectively). Neither p105 LI-C nor p105 LI-S nor p105 AD nor DNA ploidy was significant for local-regional control or survival., Conclusion: p105 labeling indices, antigen density, and DNA ploidy do not predict the outcome of patients irradiated for advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

Purpose: Despite aggressive surgery and postoperative radiation therapy, only 30% of patients who have advanced, potentially resectable carcinomas of the head and neck survive for 5 years. In the hope of improving this situation we studied the effect of postoperative radiotherapy delivered concurrently with cisplatin., Methods and Materials: Patients who had Stage IV tumors and/or involved surgical margins received 60 Gy in 30 fractions over 6 weeks plus 100 mg/m2 of cisplatin on radiotherapy days 1, 23 and 43. Fifty-two patients participated in this trial and 51 were evaluated. Forty-three (84%) patients had pathologic T3 or T4 disease, 43 (84%) had Stage IV disease, and 27 (53%) had histologically involved surgical margins., Results: Severe and life-threatening toxicities occurred in 20% and 12% of patients, respectively; the most common drug-related toxicities were leukopenia, anemia, nausea, and vomiting. Seventeen patients (43%) remain alive with no evidence of disease. Four patients (8%) died with no evidence of neoplastic disease, and one patient has died of a second independent malignancy. By actuarial analysis at 3 years, 48% of patients are alive, 81% have locoregional control of disease, and 57% are free of distant metastases., Conclusions: Based on comparison with similar patients treated in a prior Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/Intergroup trial (RTOG), we conclude that postoperative radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin may improve locoregional control rates and should be prospectively tested.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the incidence of late effects of hyperfractionated radiotherapy for head and neck cancer as a function of the dose delivered, as well as the daily interfraction interval. In addition, we wished to examine the influence of other prognostic factors including age, gender, primary site, T- and N-stage, and overall stage on the late effects of hyperfractionated radiotherapy., Methods and Materials: Between 1983 and 1987, 479 patients with advanced head and neck cancer were entered on a Phase ILE/II dose escalation trial of hyperfractionated radiotherapy. They were randomly assigned to receive a dose of 67.2, 72.0, 76.8, or 81.6 Gy, delivered at 1.2 Gy/fraction, twice a day (BID), 5 days/week. Of the 451 analyzable patients, 399 patients who received > or = 64.8 Gy and had a follow-up > 90 days were eligible for this study. Acute and late effects were scored with the RTOG/EORTC late radiation morbidity scoring scheme. For this analysis, patients were subclassified by the actual doses delivered and by an average daily interfraction interval of < or = 4.5 h or > 4.5 h. The incidence of late effects was estimated using a cumulative incidence approach., Results: Fifty-nine patients received 67.2 +/- 2.4 Gy, 119 received 72.0 +/- 2.4 Gy, 98 received 76.8 +/- 2.4 Gy, and 123 received 81.6 +/- 2.4 Gy. The proportion of patients treated with a daily interfraction interval of > 4.5 h was 32, 50, 43, and 71%, respectively. The four treatment groups were well balanced with respect to pretreatment characteristics. The median follow-up was 1.71 years (range: 0.24-9.6) for all evaluable patients and 6.12 years for 85 alive patients. There was no significant difference in the incidence of late effects between the different dose levels. At 5 years, the cumulative incidence of late effects was 17, 14, 20, and 13% for grade 3, and 7, 3, 7, and 5% for grade 4. However, the incidence of late effects differed significantly with respect to daily interfraction interval. The cumulative incidence of grade 4 late effects increased from 6.3% at 2 years to 7.5% at 3 years to 8.0% at 4 years and 8.6% at 5 years with an interval of < or = 4.5 h, while it remained at a constant of 2.0% with an interval of > 4.5 h during the same period (p = 0.0036). Multivariate analysis showed that among the prognostic factors examined, daily interfraction interval of < or = 4.5 h was the only significant independent prognostic factor for the development of grade 3+ or grade 4 late effects (p = 0.0167 and p = 0.0013, respectively)., Conclusion: Results of this randomized Phase ILE/II trial of hyperfractionated radiotherapy in head and neck cancer showed no apparent dose-response relationship for late effects within the range of 67.2-81.6 Gy. Daily interfraction interval was a significant independent factor for the development of late effects in a multivariate analysis.

Purpose: To establish the feasibility of performing split-course accelerated hyperfractionation (AHFX-S) and concomitant boost accelerated fractionation radiotherapy (AFX-C) for advanced head and neck cancer in a multi-institutional cooperative trial setting and to evaluate the tumor clearance rate and acute and late toxicity of these fractionation schedules., Methods and Materials: Between February 1989 and January 1990, 75 patients with Stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomized to receive: (a) AHFX-S: 1.6 Gy/fraction, twice daily (6-h interval), 5 days/week, to a total dose of 67.2 Gy/42 fractions/6 weeks, with a 2-week rest after 38.4 Gy; or (b) AFX-C: 1.8 Gy/fraction/day, 5 daily fractions/week to 54 Gy/30 fractions/6 weeks to a large field and 1.5 Gy/fraction/day to a boost field, 6 h after large field treatment during the last 11 treatment days, to a total dose of 70.5 Gy/41 fractions/6 weeks. Acute and late toxicities were scored according to the RTOG normal tissue reaction scales and tumor clearance was evaluated at completion of therapy and at regular intervals thereafter., Results: Of the 70 analyzable patients, 38 received AHFX-S and 32 received AFX-C. The two arms were balanced with respect to sex, age, T-stage, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS). However, the AHFX-S arm had a higher proportion of oropharyngeal primaries (63% vs. 44%), and Stage IV disease (82% vs. 50%) and lower proportion of oral cavity lesions (3% vs. 22%) and N0 disease (16% vs. 31%) than the AFX-C arm. The median follow-up was 2 years (range: 0.03-4.87 years). Tolerance of both variants of accelerated fractionated radiotherapy was satisfactory. There was no significant difference in local-regional control, disease-free survival, or survival between the two arms. The 2-year local-regional failure rate, survival, and disease-free survival was 50, 50, and 40%, respectively, for the entire group of patients. Acute radiation mucositis was increased in both arms. There was no significant difference in the incidence of grade 3 acute toxicities (63% vs. 56%) and grade 3 (14% vs. 14%) or grade 4 (6% vs. 17%) late toxicities. Permanent grade 4 late toxicity was observed in 6 and 7% of the patients, respectively., Conclusion: Results of this randomized Phase I/II trial showed that the two accelerated fractionated schedules studied can be successfully given in a multi-institutional cooperative trial. There was no significant difference in acute or late toxicities, local-regional control, disease-free survival, or survival in this small scale study. Therefore, a Phase III trial comparing the relative efficacy of these two accelerated fractionation schedules against standard fractionation and hyperfractionation has been activated.

Purpose: p105 is a proliferation-associated nuclear antigen which identifies proliferating but not resting cells. The objectives of this Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) protocol (91-08) were: (1) to correlate tumor proliferative potential estimated using the p105 assay and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis with treatment outcome in patients irradiated for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; and (2) to evaluate the potential of p105 labeling indices as a predictive assay., Methods and Materials: Paraffin blocks of pretreatment biopsies of the primary tumor or metastatic neck nodes of patients with Stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with radiotherapy alone in three previous RTOG protocols (79-13, 79-15, and 83-13) were retrospectively obtained. From these paraffin blocks, areas of tumor were selected based on histological examinations and sectioned. Nuclei suspensions were then prepared and processed for p105 antibody and DNA staining and subsequent flow cytometric quantification of p105 labeling indices and DNA content and correlation with local-regional control and survival., Results: Paraffin blocks of tumor biopsies from 148 out of a total of 598 eligible patients were available. Of these, 143 were analyzable. The median and (range) of p105 labeling index (LI-C), p105 labeling index of cells in S phase (LI-S), and p105 antigen density (AD) were: 66.6 (3.85-99.5), 9 (1.55-36), and 93.2 (7.4-628.5), respectively. Deoxyribonucleic acid was diploid in 67 (47%), aneuploid in 22 (15%) and mixed aneuploid/diploid in 54 (38%) patients. There was a strong correlation between AD and DNA ploidy. Antigen density was above median in 91.5% of the aneuploid or mixed aneuploid/diploid tumors, but only in 8.5% of the diploid tumors. Patients with aneuploid or mixed aneuploid/diploid tumors had significantly greater local-regional failures than patients with diploid tumors (p = .0180). Those with p105 LI-C below the median or p105 AD above the median also had significantly greater local-regional failures (p = .0500 and p = .0167, respectively). Patients with p105 AD below the median had significantly better survival than those above the median (p = .0444), although there was no significant difference in survival with respect to DNA ploidy or p105 LI-C. Multivariate analyses showed that T-stage (p = .0001) and p105 AD (p = .0044) were significant prognostic factors for local-regional control, and T-stage (p = .0080), N-stage (p = .0021), primary site (p = .0110), and p105 AD (p = .0326) were significant prognostic factors for survival., Conclusion: These results suggest that flow cytometric quantitation of the proliferation-associated nuclear antigen p105 and DNA content of pretreatment tumor biopsies may be a potentially useful predictive assay in patients irradiated for advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

Fluosol-DA 20%, a synthetic perfluorocarbon emulsion first developed as a blood substitute, is currently being investigated as a radiation sensitizer. Theoretically, an oxygen-carrying perfluorocarbon emulsion combined with oxygen inhalation might be able to increase tumor response by decreasing the relative proportion of hypoxic tumor cells. Twenty-one patients with advanced head and neck malignancies receiving primary radiation therapy were evaluated for treatment-related toxicity. Mucosal reactions and weight loss during treatment in the group of patients who received the perfluorocarbon emulsion and the group who did not were comparable. Late sequelae appeared comparable. No patient in either group who completed radiation therapy required an interruption of the treatment course. We conclude that Fluosol-DA 20% is a tolerated adjunct to primary radiation therapy. Further study is needed to determine whether the agent will improve local/regional tumor control.

The ability of surgery and radiotherapy to control advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has reached its maximal potential. We initiated a randomized, prospective, stratified study of adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with stage II disease of the pyriform sinus and stage II and IV disease of the oral cavity, larynx, hypopharynx, oropharynx, nasopharynx, and paranasal sinuses were eligible. Patients were randomized to receive either standard therapy alone or two courses of 5-fluorouracil (B-CMF) chemotherapy prior to and two courses after the completion of standard therapy. Standard therapy consisted of preoperative irradiation followed by radical surgery. Of 133 patients with advanced disease, 83 were included in the study--43 in the chemotherapy group and 40 in the control group. Rates of residual and recurrent disease, as well as distant metastases, were similar for the two groups. The survival rates of patients without persistent disease at the end of treatment showed no significant difference for the two groups. The study has been discontinued because statistical analysis indicated that the addition of more patients would not materially increase the statistical significance of the study.

It is often suggested that tumors will respond to induction chemotherapy and result in improved survival for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Two regimens of induction chemotherapy were studied in separate randomized, prospective trials over the last 6 years. Eighty-three patients with advanced disease were entered into the first study (43/chemotherapy; 40/control), and 60 into the second (27/chemotherapy; 33/control). Patient randomization was stratified by stage (III/IV) and site (oral cavity, oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, paranasal sinuses). The first study utilized bleomycin, Cytoxan, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil in two cycles (one cycle if no tumor response), followed by standard treatment which consisted of combined irradiation and surgery or, in some instances, primary irradiation alone. The second study utilized cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil in three cycles prior to standard treatment. An objective tumor response to chemotherapy was observed in 68% in the first study and 85% in the second. The patient survival in both studies (at 24 months in the first; at 19 in the second) was better in the control than that in the experimental groups (43% to 31%; 69% to 46%). In the second study, the average length of delay of standard treatment was longer than in the first study (95 days vs. 66 days; P less than .02). Results combining the P-values of both studies indicate that the relative risk of having persistent disease was 2.9 times greater for patients who received chemotherapy. While toxicity to chemotherapy was not a factor in survival, the number of patients who withdrew from the studies and those who did not comply with treatment were greater in the chemotherapy groups. Except for new drug regimens of exceptional promise, it is recommended that future studies be designed so that chemotherapy is given concurrent with, or following the completion of standard treatment.

A randomized, prospective trial utilizing cisplatin and fluorouracil as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract was initiated in January 1983. Sixty patients were stratified by site (oral cavity, 19; larynx, 14; hypopharynx, 14; oropharynx, 11; nasopharynx, one; and paranasal sinuses, one) and by stage (III, 19; IV, 41), and then randomized to receive either standard treatment (defined as preoperative irradiation followed by radical excision or irradiation alone) or adjuvant chemotherapy followed by standard treatment. An additional three patients were entered into the study, but withdrew. Chemotherapy consisted of three cycles for those patients in whom an objective tumor response was observed; nonresponders received standard treatment. Response to chemotherapy was complete in five and partial (greater than 50%) in 18 patients, for an overall response rate of 85%. The follow-up for surviving patients was a minimum of 24 months and a maximum of 44 months. Survival was compared for patients in both treatment groups according to the method of Lee and Desu. Despite excellent tumor response, actuarial survival was 70% in the standard treatment group as opposed to 56% in the experimental group. It was therefore evident that the high response rates reported in previous pilot studies do not necessarily result in improved survival in these cancers.

A prospective, randomized trial of induction chemotherapy in advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract (UAD) was conducted between July 1979 and September 1982. Eighty-three patients with locally advanced Stage III-IV tumors received standard treatment (STD RX; defined as preoperative irradiation and radical excision or irradiation alone), or induction chemotherapy (CTX) followed by STD RX. Chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of bleomycin (30 units/day by continuous infusions Days 1-4), cyclophosphamide (200 mg/m2 IV Days 1-5), methotrexate (30 mg/m2 Days 1 + 5), and 5-fluorouracil (400 mg/m2 IV Days 1-5). Response to CTX was complete in 2 and partial (greater than 50% reduction) in 27; the overall response rate was 68%. Tumor clearance was documented in 30/40 STD RX patients at completion of irradiation and/or surgery and in 24/43 CTX patients (17/29 responders, 7/14 non-responders). Freedom from local-regional disease was noted at 2 years in 53% STD RX and 35% CTX patients (p less than .06). CTX patients had a higher proportion of local-regional persistence and recurrence. The difference was apparent only in the subset of patients treated with primary irradiation; local-regional control following irradiation and surgery was equal in STD RX and CTX groups. Survival at 2 years was 43% STD RX and 31% CTX. Disease-free survival in those with clearance was 64% STD RX and 59% CTX. Induction chemotherapy did not improve tumor clearance or survival in this series. Caution regarding local-regional control with CTX and primary irradiation is noted.