PropertyValue
?:abstract
  • The incidence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is increasing worldwide, with over three quarters of cases now diagnosed in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) with resource-constraints. Loco-regional recurrence remains the predominant pattern of failure mandating adequate local therapy for acceptable loco-regional control and survival. There is high-quality evidence that intensification of treatment by either by adding concurrent chemotherapy or by altering radiotherapy (RT) fractionation improves outcomes in the curative-intent management of loco-regionally advanced HNSCC. Even conservative estimates indicate that >50% of patients in LMIC are unlikely to get access to timely RT, which will only get compounded with the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. The radiation oncology community has been systematically testing altered fractionation schedules in several solid cancers (breast, lung, and head-neck), given the cost-effectiveness, convenience, and compliance to short-course RT regimens. Radiobiological modelling suggests that standard fractionation of 6–7 weeks in HNSCC can be compressed safely into a 4-week schedule to counter accelerated repopulation by increasing the dose per fraction and delivering 5 fractions per week which is currently being tested in the ongoing multicentric trial of hypo- vs normo-fractionated accelerated RT (HYPNO study). Herein, we discuss the radiobiological basis of curative-intent hypofractionated-accelerated RT schedule delivering 55 Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks in HNSCC followed by critical appraisal of the published literature on such regimens with concurrent systemic therapy and its inherent resource-sparing potential applicable across large parts of the world particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
is ?:annotates of
?:creator
?:doi
?:doi
  • 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.105045
?:journal
  • Oral_Oncol
?:license
  • no-cc
?:pdf_json_files
  • document_parses/pdf_json/b53222d751129269b590b63c685e93da18be71c2.json
?:pmc_json_files
  • document_parses/pmc_json/PMC7572312.xml.json
?:pmcid
?:pmid
?:pmid
  • 33091846.0
?:publication_isRelatedTo_Disease
is ?:relation_isRelatedTo_publication of
?:sha_id
?:source
  • Elsevier; Medline; PMC
?:title
  • Resource-sparing curative-intent hypofractionated-accelerated radiotherapy in head and neck cancer: More relevant than ever before in the COVID era
?:type
?:year
  • 2020-10-20

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