Adding the hypoxic cytotoxin tirapazamine (TPZ) to chemoradiotherapy does not improve overall survival (OS) in advanced head and neck cancer patients not selected for the presence of hypoxia, research shows.
The researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and the Royal Brisbane Hospital had previously reported promising results with a regimen that added TPZ to radiation and cisplatin (CIS) and so they decided that the TPZ regimen warranted testing in a phase III trial.
The TROG 02.02, HeadSTART trial included over 800 patients with previously untreated stage III or IV squamous oral carcinoma who were randomly assigned to receive radiotherapy concurrently with either CIS or CIS plus TPZ.
An intent-to-treat analysis showed that the 2-year OS rates were...
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