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Purpose: This randomized phase III trial investigated the potential benefit of concurrent re-irradiation, fluorouracil and hydroxyurea versus methotrexate for patients treated with palliative intent for recurrent or second primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in previously irradiated area., Patients and Methods: Patients with recurrent HNSCC or a second primary not amenable to curative-intent treatment were randomized to the R-RT arm (concurrent re-irradiation, fluorouracil and hydroxyurea) or to the Ch-T arm (methotrexate). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Due to a very slow accrual, the trial was closed after inclusion of 57 patients., Results: Fifty-seven patients were included. All patients died in the two arms with a maximal follow-up of 5years. Although four complete responses were achieved in R-RT arm, (none in Ch-T arm) re-irradiation did not improve OS compared with methotrexate (23% versus 22% at 1year, NS). Sixteen patients experienced clinical grade ⩾3 late toxicities (>6months), 11 in R-RT arm and five in Ch-T arm., Conclusions: Premature discontinuation of the trial did not allow us to draw firm conclusions. However, there was no suggestion that concurrent re-irradiation, fluorouracil and hydroxyurea improved OS compared to methotrexate alone in patients treated with palliative intent for a recurrent or second primary HNSCC., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

Purpose: Between November 1988 and May 1992, 14 patients were enrolled in a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and results of hyperfractionated reirradiation for the treatment of head and neck recurrences or of second primary tumors developed in a previously irradiated volume., Materials and Methods: All patients underwent a surgical resection for the treatment of their recurrence or second cancer. Reirradiation was proposed because of positive margins and/or lymph node metastasis with extra-capsular spread. The planned reirradiation dose was 60 Gy over 5 weeks, with two daily fractions of 1.2 Gy delivered 6-8 hours apart., Results: Of the 14 patients, 10 received the reirradiation scheduled dose (ie, 60 Gy). All patients experienced an acute mucositis that never led to disruption of the treatment. Ten patients died 3 to 41 months after reirradiation (mean: 14 months), three were disease-free 48 to 71 months after reirradiation and one was alive with local progressive disease 74 months after reirradiation. The overall local control rate within the reirradiated volume was 43%. The 24- and 36-month overall survival rates were 50 and 35%, respectively. Overall, 13 late complications were noted: four were grade 1, seven were grade 2, and two were grade 3. Three patients still alive in September 1993 and whose initial files were available were enrolled in an additional study to assess from dose-volume histograms the cumulative doses delivered by the two irradiations., Conclusion: Despite poor local control, reirradiation using a hyperfractionation schedule with high dose level is feasible in terms of acute and late toxicity.

We describe a retrospective and comparative assessment of the medical care of breast cancer among women in a French comprehensive cancer center, the Centre Claudius Regaud. There was no significant difference for the clinical results between two cohorts of women, treated in 1975 and 1985 respectively, for equivalent stages of disease. The overall increase in survival resulted mainly from early diagnosis. Locoregional treatment cost and conservative treatment cost, from official Social Security costs, did not increase between the two periods. However, a high risk of metastasis risk during the first treatment, or recurrence during the follow-up, resulted in differences in cost-effectiveness between 1975 and 1985. Although these results must be interpreted with caution, this analysis raises strategic questions about the suitability of some medical practices, particularly in the care of evolutive neoplasm.