ABSTRACT
Introduction: Head and neck cancer is the most common cancer in India. Overall, 57.5% of global head and neck cancersoccur in Asia, especially in India. Even though anatomical subsites of head and neck regions are accessible to clinicalexamination, 60–80% of patients in India report with locally advanced disease in comparison with developed countries whichis 40% only.Concurrent chemoradiation remains the standard treatment approach in locally advanced head and neck cancers.Conventional radiation schemes with 3 weekly cisplatin produce a response rate of 50–60% only in locally advanced head andneck cancer. Studies reveal that tumor clonogen repopulation might be one of the most important factors determining treatmentoutcome. Various retrospective studies and clinical trials have shown that an increase in tumor control can be achieved byshortening treatment time using altered fractionation schemas.Aim: In this present work, we made an attempt to improve the therapeutic ratio by hyperfractionation and accelerated radiationregimens.Methods: To achieve the above, 30 patients of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma with different disease status werechosen. Patients subjected to hybrid accelerated radiotherapy with total dose of 72 Gy along with cisplatin 100 mg/m2 were givenon day 1 and day 22. Complete response rate in primary T2, T3, and T4 tumors is 100%, 86.95%, and 16.67%, respectively.Results: Complete response rates attained by N0, N1, and N2 nodes are 100%, 100%, and 50%, respectively. 16.6% hadGrade 2 mucositis and 50% had Grade 3 mucositis. 80% had Grade 3 and 20% had Grade 2 skin toxicities. No Grades 3 and4 hematological toxicities such as anemia, leucopenia, or thrombocytopenia were observed.Conclusion: Hence, we suggest that combination of hybrid accelerated radiotherapy and cisplatin mono-chemotherapy, withmanageable, although substantial, toxicity as an effective alternative regimen to treat head and neck cancer