Differential outcome of concurrent radiotherapy plus epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors versus radiotherapy plus cisplatin in patients with human papillomavirus-related head and neck cancer
Menée sur 108 patients atteints d'un cancer de la tête et du cou de stade III/IV (durée médiane de suivi : 35 mois), cette étude évalue, du point de vue de la survie sans maladie et de la survie globale, l'intérêt d'ajouter, de façon concomitante et en remplacement du cisplatine, un inhibiteur du récepteur EGFR à une radiothérapie chez les patients infectés par le papillomavirus humain de type 16
BACKGROUND:Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancer has been associated with an improved prognosis in patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) +/- chemotherapy (CT); however, RT combined with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors has not been fully studied in this group of patients.METHODS:Immunohistochemical expression of p16 and PCR of HPV16 DNA were retrospectively analyzed in tumor blocks from 108 stage III/IV head and neck cancer patients treated with RT+CT (56) or RT+EGFR inhibitors (52). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method.RESULTS:DNA of HPV16 was found in 12 of 108 tumors (11%) and p16 positivity in 18 tumors (17%), with similar rates in both arms of treatment. After a median follow-up time of 35 months (range 6--135), p16-positive patients treated with RT+EGFR inhibitors showed improved survival compared with those treated with RT+CT (2-year OS 88% vs. 60%, HR 0.18; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.88; p = 0.01; and 2-year DFS 75% vs. 47%, HR 0.17; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.8; p = 0.01). However, no differences were observed in p16-negative patients (2-year OS 56% vs. 53%, HR 0.97; 95% CI 0.55 to 1.7; p = 0.9; and 2-year DFS 43% vs. 45%, HR 0.99; 95% CI 0.57 to 1.7; p = 0.9).CONCLUSIONS:This is the first study to show that p16-positive patients may benefit more from RT+EGFR inhibitors than conventional RT+CT. These results are hypothesis-generating and should be confirmed in prospective trials.