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Pre‐treatment haemoglobin level predicts response and survival after TPF induction polychemotherapy in advanced head and neck cancer patients
Author(s) -
Baghi M.,
Wagenblast J.,
Hambek M.,
Moertel S.,
Gstoettner W.,
Strebhardt K.,
Knecht R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-4486.2008.01702.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , docetaxel , head and neck cancer , induction chemotherapy , chemotherapy , confidence interval , squamous cell cancer , oncology , stage (stratigraphy) , cancer , fluorouracil , gastroenterology , paleontology , biology
Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of the pre‐treatment haemoglobin level in patients with advanced squamous cell head and neck cancer treated with induction polychemotherapy. Design: Seventy‐two patients with advanced squamous cell head and neck cancer received primary combination chemotherapy consisting of docetaxel 75 mg/m² on day 1, cisplatin 100 mg/m² on day 1, and 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) 1000 mg/m²/day on days 1–4 (total dose 4000 mg/m²), repeated on days 1, 22 and 43 followed by chemoradiation. The data collected included pre‐treatment haemoglobin, response to treatment, disease‐free and overall survival. Results: The pre‐treatment haemoglobin level was found to be a significant predictor of response to induction chemotherapy ( P = 0.01) and an independent predictor of overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58–1.03, P = 0.0001] and disease free survival (HR 2.09, 95% CI 1.41–3.09, P = 0.0001). Furthermore N‐stage was found to be a significant prognostic factor of overall survival (HR 9.24, 95% CI 6.90–21.34, P = 0.005). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status scale was also found to be significant for disease free survival (HR 7.66, 95% CI 2.61–22.46, P = 0.003). Conclusion: In patients with advanced squamous cell head and neck cancer, the haemoglobin level prior to induction chemotherapy is significantly related to outcome including response and survival.