Ototoxicity in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients treated with induction chemotherapy followed by intermediate or high-dose cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated ototoxicity in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients treated in the CONDOR study with docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (TPF) followed by conventional radiotherapy with concomitant cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on days 1, 22, and 43 (cis100+RT) versus accelerated radiotherapy with concomitant cisplatin weekly 40 mg/m2 (cis40+ART).

METHODS: Sixty-two patients were treated in this study. Audiometry was performed at baseline, during TPF, before start of chemoradiotherapy, and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after treatment.

RESULTS: A complete dataset of audiometric data was available of 12 patients treated with high-dose cisplatin and of 11 patients treated with intermediate-dose cisplatin. Patients in the high-dose group showed significant more hearing loss than in the intermediate group at 4 kHz ([z = 1.98; P = .04] and 8 kHz [z = 2.07; P < .03]). Interindividual variation was high in both groups.

CONCLUSION: After induction TPF, more ototoxicity was observed in chemoradiotherapy with cis100+RT than after chemoradiotherapy with cis40+ART.