Symptoms and General Pathology

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Head and Neck Neoplasms

Disease Attributes

local cryotherapy treatment

Luigi Roberto CAZZATO, MD

In France, squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) are the 5th most common cancer. 60% of patients present with locally advanced tumors (stage III/IV), characterized by a poor prognosis (5-year survival not exceeding 60%). The standard treatment consists of either surgical removal followed by adjuvant radiochemotherapy or exclusive radiochemotherapy.

In case of locoregional recurrence (about 40% of patients), salvage surgery can be proposed, allowing prolonged survival for less than one third of eligible patients. However, more than half of locoregional recurrences are unresectable. The standard treatment then consists of immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy for palliative purposes with a median survival of no more than 15 months. Stereotactic radiotherapy is another potentially curative option that allows a local control of 30-60% at 1 year, but at the cost of significant toxicity (up to 50% of grade 3-4 toxicities), thus limiting its indication.

The issue of salvage treatment also applies to other rarer histological forms, including naso-sinus and salivary gland tumors, for which the probability of overall survival at 5 years does not exceed 65% due to locoregional evolution, despite advances in surgical techniques and the addition of radiotherapy.

During the last two decades, minimally invasive interventional radiology techniques have been developed in the field of oncology. Among these techniques, cryotherapy is now commonly used for the treatment of several cancers. The multiplication of its indications is based on numerous clinical advantages (good post-operative analgesia, good toxicity profile, good tumor control). Cryotherapy could thus be a therapeutic alternative in head and neck cancers in recurrence situation in irradiated and unresectable territory, allowing to maintain a curative project in a higher proportion of patients and also to have a more favorable toxicity profile than re-irradiation.

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Local Cryotherapy Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer in Irradiated Areas: a Pilot Study

Tumour control is defined as no increase in size and no suspicious contrast (or radiotracer) in the ablation area. Any suspected recurrence on cross-sectional imaging will be confirmed by biopsy.

assessed by the NCI-CTCAE severity scale version 5.0

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization
Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Local Cryotherapy Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer in Irradiated Areas: a Pilot Study	NCT05738187	Recurrent Head ... Local Cryothera...	local cryothera...	18 Years -	University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Local Cryotherapy Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer in Irradiated Areas: a Pilot Study	NCT05738187	Recurrent Head ... Local Cryothera...	local cryothera...	18 Years -	University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Local Cryotherapy Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer in Irradiated Areas: a Pilot Study	NCT05738187	Recurrent Head ... Local Cryothera...	local cryothera...	18 Years -	University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

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