Purpose: Concurrent cisplatin and radiation is currently the preferred therapy for stage 3 and 4 head and neck cancer. However, patient tolerability is poor. Concurrent cetuximab and radiation, on the other hand, is well tolerated. However, head-to-head comparative studies with cisplatin are lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy, tolerability, and total health care costs of cisplatin- and cetuximab-based regimens among veteran patients with head and neck cancer.
Methods and Materials: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with stage 3 and 4 head and neck cancer at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System from 2009-2013. Patients were included if they had biopsy-proven disease treated with cisplatin or cetuximab (both with concurrent radiation). Patients receiving adjuvant chemoradiation, those with non-squamous cell carcinoma, or carcinoma of the nasopharynx were excluded. Baseline characteristics were compared by chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables and by Mann-Whitney for continuous variables. The primary outcome was average chemotherapy dose intensity. Secondary outcomes included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) , which were compared by Kaplan-Meier and the log-rank test. Results: Fifty-two patients were included; 30 received cisplatin and 22 cetuximab. Patients who received cetuximab were older (median age, 66 vs 63; P = .04) and more likely to have diabetes (36% vs 7%; P = .01) and a CrCl 2 (9 vs 7; P = .33) were comparable between both groups. Patients were followed for a median of 29 months (range 0.4-64). Average chemotherapy dose intensity was lower for cisplatin (88% vs 96%; P = .03). Progression-free survival was longer among cisplatin patients (median 21 months, range 0-57) compared with that of cetuximab (median 17 months, range 1-52; P = 0.03) and did not vary among patients who did or did not receive 100% chemotherapy dose-intensity cisplatin (median 18 vs 27 months; P = .16). There was no difference in OS (31 vs 18 months, P = .19). Neutropenia (47% vs 0%; P ≤ .0001), dehydration (33% vs 0%; P = .003), nausea/vomiting (30% vs 0%; P = .07), and hypotension (23% vs 0%; P = .02) were higher among cisplatin patients. Rash was more common with cetuximab (64% vs 7%; P ≤ .0001). The average health care costs were $3,495 and $27,148 for cisplatin and cetuximab, respectively.
Conclusions: Among veterans with stage 3 or 4 head and neck cancer, treatment with cisplatin-based chemotherapy is associated with PFS compared with cetuximab-based regimens despite cisplatin patients receiving only 88% of chemotherapy. Patients who received cetuximab experienced fewer adverse effects. However, total health care costs were significantly higher. Our data suggest that cisplatin should remain the front-line therapy for stage 3 and 4 head and neck cancer. Cetuximab is best reserved for patients who are intolerant of or have a contraindication to cisplatin.
