Influence of pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy on long-term survival of patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze whether pathologic complete response (PCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) affected long-term survival in advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

Materials: All patients with advanced HNSCC were previously untreated and underwent NAC followed by surgery. The 5-year overall survival, disease-free survival, local control rate, and reasons for treatment failure were analyzed.

Results: A total of 101 cases were included, and the response rate to NAC was 67.3%, including 17 patients (16.8%) who achieved PCR. The 5-year overall survival (OS) of the PCR group (82.4%; histologically complete response group [HCG]) was higher than that of the pathologic incomplete responder group (45.4%; histologically incomplete response group [HICG]) (P = 0.045). No statistically significant difference was noted between the two groups in terms of local recurrence and nodal recurrence, but the local control rate in HCG (88.2%) was higher than that in HICG (62.7%) (P = 0.034).

Conclusions: Achieving PCR could improve locoregional control and long-term survival in patients with advanced HNSCC.