Retrospective review of locally advanced head and neck cancer treated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy at the Miami VA Medical Center

15541 Management of Stage III or IV Head and Neck (H&N) cancer is debatable. Standard of care is Radical Surgery (Sx) followed by Radiotherapy (XRT). However, cosmetic and functional complications are distressing and result in decreased quality of life. Therefore, organ preservation has become important when deciding best management. The VA larynx study, the EORTC 24891 and the 91–11 US intergroup trial have shown efficacy of organ preserving chemoradiotherapy (Cx+Rx) comparable to Sx and XRT. These studies are limited to laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers and whether same principles can be applied to other H&N sites is unknown. We conducted a retrospective study of stage III & IV H&N cancer treated at our Institution between 1996–2004 to evaluate survival, organ preservation and toxicities. 45 males between 47 to 83 years (median 59.6) were studied. 87% were white and 13% black. 82% had history of tobacco and alcohol abuse, 4% tobacco only, 11% alcohol only and 2% never smoked or drank. The sites of di...