Objectives

Black patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have poorer survival and disease control compared to non-black patients, but disparities in death from non-cancer causes (i.e., competing mortality) are less well-studied.

Materials and methods

We conducted an analysis of 538 patients (169 black, 369 non-black) with stage III-IV HNC treated on one of six multi-institutional protocols between 1993 and 2004 involving multi-agent chemoradiotherapy with or without surgery. Competing mortality was defined as death due to intercurrent comorbid disease, treatment-related morbidity, or unknown cause in the absence of disease recurrence, progression, or second malignancy. Cox proportional hazards and competing risks regression were used to estimate the effect of black race on competing mortality.

Results

Black race was associated with increased rates of comorbidity, smoking, heavy alcohol use, advanced tumor stage, and poorer performance status (p<.001 for all). Compared to non-black patients, black HNC patients had a higher 5 year cumulative incidence of disease progression (31.4%; 95% CI, 24.4-38.5% vs 23.4%; 95% CI, 19.1-28.1%) and competing mortality (28.1%; 95% CI, 21.2-35.3% vs 14.5%; 95% CI, 11.0-18.5%). When adjusting for age, male sex, body mass index, distance traveled, smoking and alcohol use, performance status, comorbidity, and tumor stage, the black race was associated with death from comorbid disease (Cox hazard ratio 2.13; 95% CI, 1.06-4.28, p=0.033).

Conclusions

Black patients with advanced HNC are at increased risk of both disease progression and death from competing non-cancer mortality, particularly death from comorbid disease. Improved strategies to manage comorbid disease may increase the benefit of treatment intensification in black patients.

Purpose

Induction chemotherapy (IC) before radiotherapy lowers distant failure (DF) rates in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The goal of this phase III trial was to determine whether IC before chemoradiotherapy (CRT) further improves survival compared with CRT alone in patients with N2 or N3 disease.

Patients and methods

Treatment-naive patients with nonmetastatic N2 or N3 SCCHN were randomly assigned to CRT alone (CRT arm; docetaxel, fluorouracil, and hydroxyurea plus radiotherapy 0.15 Gy twice per day every other week) versus two 21-day cycles of IC (docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) on day 1, cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) on day 1, and fluorouracil 750 mg/m(2) on days 1 to 5) followed by the same CRT regimen (IC + CRT arm). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Secondary end points included DF-free survival, failure pattern, and recurrence-free survival (RFS).

Results

A total of 285 patients were randomly assigned. The most common grade 3 to 4 toxicities during IC were febrile neutropenia (11%) and mucositis (9%); during CRT (both arms combined), they were mucositis (49%), dermatitis (21%), and leukopenia (18%). Serious adverse events were more common in the IC arm (47% v 28%; P = .002). With a minimum follow-up of 30 months, there were no statistically significant differences in OS (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.41), RFS, or DF-free survival.

Conclusion

IC did not translate into improved OS compared with CRT alone. However, the study was underpowered because it did not meet the planned accrual target, and OS was higher than predicted in both arms. IC cannot be recommended routinely in patients with N2 or N3 locally advanced SCCHN.