[Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with S-1 and cisplatin (CDDP) in patients (pts) with locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC)].

The standard care for unresectable locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) is concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Although there is no standard regimen of CRT, a platinum-based regimen has shown a better survival benefit than other regimens. The control arm in a randomized trial for unresectable locally advanced HNC is radiotherapy concurrent with CDDP (100 mg/m2, every 3 weeks), which has been considered to be too toxic for clinical practice in Western countries and has required frequent dose modifications. Because the Japanese also have been considered unable to tolerate this regimen, no prospective study of it has been conducted in Japan. Most Japanese patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer have received concurrent chemoradiotherapy with 5-FU and CDDP (70-80 mg/m2). S-1 has shown high activity in HNC with a response rate of 34%. Furthermore, a combination of cisplatin and S-1 therapy for HNC has been reported to have good efficacy. With this rationale in mind, we conducted a phase I study of CRT with S-1 and CDDP for unresectable locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The CR rate was very promising, though preliminary, and warrants further investigation. The Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) is planning a multicenter phase II study of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with S-1 and CDDP for locally advanced unresectable HNC.