Postoperative radiotherapy may not be necessary for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a case-match multicentre study

Background Some head and neck cancer surgeons found that many patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC) without postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) also have a good prognosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of PORT on survival in patients with LA-HNSCC. Methods A case-match cohort analysis was performed at two institutions on patients with LA-HNSCC. Patients who received surgery alone were case-matched 1: 1 with patients treated by surgery plus PORT based on pT, pN, tumor subsite etc. Results 114 patients were matched into 57 pairs, with a median follow-up period of 40.2 months. No difference in overall survival (OS, HR 0.88; 95% CI 0.50–1.58; P = 0.79) or disease-specific survival (DFS, 0.86; 95% CI 0.50–1.50; P = 0.76) was observed with no PORT. Conclusions PORT isn’t necessary for patients with LA-HNSCC who are treated for the first time as long as the head and neck cancer surgeon adhere to appropriate surgical concepts. The indications of PORT for patients with LA-HNSCC need to be further discussed.