Cisplatin Versus Carboplatin and Paclitaxel in Radiochemotherapy for Patients With Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background/Aim: The implementation of a platinum-containing regimen is recommended for definitive and adjuvant therapy of patients with locally advanced head and neck tumour. We compared the conditions for the use of cisplatin or carboplatin/paclitaxel or for changing between these two regimens on a clinic-specific basis. Patients and Methods: We evaluated 150 patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who received simultaneous radiochemotherapy at our institution between 2012 and 2017. Chemotherapy with weekly doses of cisplatin (40 mg/m2, group 1) or, in cases of impaired renal and/or cardiac function, with weekly doses of carboplatin AUC2 and paclitaxel (45 mg/m2, group 2), was performed as a first-choice therapy. If toxicities occurred in group 1, treatment was switched to the carboplatin/paclitaxel regimen (group 3). Patient- and therapy-related parameters, toxicity and survival data were compared across groups. Results: We examined 99, 30, and 21 patients in each group who received at least 1 course of chemotherapy. Group 3 patients switched from cisplatin to carboplatin/paclitaxel after a median of 3 courses due to nephrotoxicity (95.2%). The target of at least 5 chemotherapy courses was most frequently achieved by patients in group 1 (69.7%), followed by group 3 (61.9%) and then group 2 (40.0%). Multivariate analysis revealed that patients who switched groups were more likely to be over 60 years old (p=0.021), undergo definitive radiochemotherapy (p=0.049) and develop higher nephrotoxicity (p=0.036) than group 1 patients. Outcomes did not differ between groups. Conclusion: When cisplatin application is contraindicated due to renal-or cardio-toxicity, carboplatin/paclitaxel is an appropriate option.