engleski

Systemic therapy of head and neck carcinoma

Systemic therapy of head and neck carcinoma is reserved for locally advanced and metastatic disease. Concomitant use of cisplatin and irradiation is still standard protocol for treatment of locally advanced disease although immunoradiotherapy with cetuximab seems to be a good alternative with similar results. The best option for fi rst-line treatment of advanced or metastatic disease is polychemotherapy with addition of cetuximab in patients in good clinical condition. Limited options are available for second-line therapy mostly due to poor performance status of the patients. HPV-positive tumors make a special subgroup of HNSCC in which targeted therapy plays the most important role.

squamous cell carcinoma ; head and neck ; cisplatin ; cetuximab ; radiotherapy ; human papillomavirus

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