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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) CME: Take the course for this article: Expanding Role of the Medical Oncologist in the Management of Head and Neck... All Versions of this Article: CA.2007.0004v1 58/1/32    most recent Submit a letter to the editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Choong, N. Articles by Vokes, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Choong, N. Articles by Vokes, E.

Expanding Role of the Medical Oncologist in the Management of Head and Neck Cancer

Dr. Choong is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Neoplastic Diseases and Related Disorders, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
Dr. Vokes is John E. Ultmann Professor of Medicine and Radiation and Cellular Oncology; and Chief, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center and University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, Chicago, IL.

Published online through CA First Look at http://CAonline.AmCancerSoc.org.
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The multidisciplinary approach to treating squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is complex and evolving. This article aims to review some recent developments in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, in particular the expanding role of chemotherapy in its management. Surgery and radiotherapy have remained the mainstay of therapy. Chemotherapy is increasingly being incorporated into the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Previously, radiotherapy following surgery was the standard approach to the treatment of locoregionally advanced resectable disease. Data from randomized trials have confirmed the benefits of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the adjuvant setting. Chemoradiotherapy is also the recommended approach for unresectable disease. Induction chemotherapy has been useful in resectable disease where organ preservation is desirable, but this approach was inferior for the goal of larynx preservation, while leading to similar survival when compared with concomitant chemoradiotherapy. There is recent evidence that taxanes added to induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil result in improved survival outcomes. Novel targeted agents, such as epidermal growth factor receptor antagonists, are showing promise in the treatment of patients with both locoregionally advanced and recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.