Pretreatment Lymphocyte Count and Response to Concurrent Chemoradiation in Head and Neck Cancer

Pretreatment Lymphocyte Count and Response to Concurrent Chemoradiation in Head and Neck Cancer

An effective immune response is an important factor in a patients response to cancer treatment. An impaired immune response as measured by lymphocyte and neutrophil blood count prior to treatment is associated with worse survival for several cancers. The proposed study seeks to investigate the association pretreatment lymphocyte and neutrophil counts and prognosis in patients with head and neck cancer. Previous studies have found that pretreatment lymphocyte and neutrophil counts are able to predict the course of cancer in head and neck cancers occurring in areas rich in lymphoid tissue like tonsillar tissue of the throat and base of tongue (also called oropharyngeal cancer) in patients treated without surgery. Many of these oropharyngeal cancers are caused by a type of virus that can cause abnormal tissue growth and lead to cancer cause human papillomavirus. The proposed study will investigate the role of pre-treatment lymphocyte and neutrophil counts in head and neck cancer of all areas of the mouth, throat and voice box and in patients treated with surgery followed radiation and chemotherapy.

[{ "PostingID": 4204, "Title": "NOVARTIS-EGF102988", "Description": "A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multi-centre, Phase III Study of Post-Operative Adjuvant Lapatinib or Placebo and Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Maintenance Lapatinib or Placebo Monotherapy in High-Risk Subjects With Resected Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN)" }]