Long-term oncological and functional outcomes of induction chemotherapy followed by (chemo)radiotherapy vs definitive chemoradiotherapy vs surgery-based therapy in locally advanced stage III/IV hypopharyngeal cancer: Multicenter review of 266 cases

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcomes for stage III/IV locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), comparing induction chemotherapy followed by (chemo) radiotherapy (ICT), definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and surgery-based therapy (SRT). Subjects and Methods: Two hundred sixty-six patients with stage III/IV locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who underwent ICT (n = 74), CRT (n = 53) or SRT (n = 139) from 1997 through 2014 at the Seoul National University Hospital (n = 127) and the Hallym University Medical Center (n = 139) were enrolled in the study. All surgical procedures in the SRT group were performed by a single surgeon to eliminate surgeon bias. Results: The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of all patients (n = 266) were 59.4% and 44%, respectively. The 5-year DFS rates after salvage treatment were 52.7% for ICT, 52.8% for CRT and 65.5% for SRT (p = 0.194). The OS rates were 44.6% for ICT, 39.6% for CRT and 45.3% for SRT group (p = 0.106). The salvage rates were 12.5% for ICT, 15.6% for CRT and 3.8% for SRT group. The final laryngeal preservation rate was significantly lower in the SRT group (44.6%) than in the ICT (71.6%) or CRT (71.7%) groups. All major postoperative complications were significantly higher in the salvage surgery group. Conclusion: Treatment outcomes in the ICT and CRT groups were comparable to that of the SRT group for stage III/IV hypopharyngeal SCC. However, the relatively low chance of cure and high risk of complications should be taken into account when considering salvage surgery.