Real-world Treatment Outcomes of the EXTREME Regimen as First-line Therapy for Recurrent/Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: A Multi-center Retrospective Cohort Study in Japan.

Background/aim: This Japanese multiple-center retrospective study aimed to examine the real-world treatment outcomes of the EXTREME regimen as a first-line therapy for recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (R/M SCCHN).
Patients and Methods: A total of 100 R/M SCCHN patients treated with the EXTREME regimen as first-line therapy were analyzed. The treatment outcomes were evaluated to compare patient and treatment characteristics with overall survival.
Results: Patients treated with carboplatin-based EXTREME regimen showed similar overall survival with less adverse effects compared to that of patients using cisplatin. The post-progression survival was significantly longer in patients treated with second-line treatment following the EXTREME regimen than in those without second-line treatment.
Conclusion: The carboplatin-based EXTREME regimen was more feasible with similar treatment outcomes compared to cisplatin-based EXTREME regimen. In addition, subsequent lines of therapy contributed to improvement of survival for R/M SCCHN patients.
(Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)