Radiation Therapy With or Without Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Advanced Cancer of the Oropharynx or Hypopharynx

Summary

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells and allow doctors to preserve the part of the body where the cancer started. It is not yet known whether radiation therapy with combination chemotherapy is more effective than radiation therapy alone in treating cancer of the oropharynx or hypopharynx that cannot be surgically removed. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of radiation therapy plus cisplatin and fluorouracil with radiation therapy alone in treating patients who have advanced cancer of the oropharynx or hypopharynx that cannot be surgically removed.

Timeline

Start

1998-10

Primary completion

2005-12

Completion

2011-01

Publications

• Results Bensadoun RJ, Benezery K, Dassonville O, Magne N, Poissonnet G, Ramaioli A, Lemanski C, Bourdin S, Tortochaux J, Peyrade F, Marcy PY, Chamorey E, Vallicioni J, Seng H, Alzieu C, Gery B, Chauvel P, Schneider M, Santini J, Demard F, Calais G. French multicenter phase III randomized study testing concurrent twice-a-day radiotherapy and cisplatin/5-fluorouracil chemotherapy (BiRCF) in unresectable pharyngeal carcinoma: Results at 2 years (FNCLCC-GORTEC). Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Mar 15;64(4):983-94. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2005.09.041. Epub 2006 Jan 10.

Drugs

Indications