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Karger Publishers, Oncology, 6(95), p. 353-359, 2018

DOI: 10.1159/000492153

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Maintenance Therapy with Biweekly Cetuximab: Optimizing Schedule Can Preserve Activity and Improves Compliance in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> This study evaluates maintenance cetuximab administered every 2 weeks (q2w) after chemotherapy plus cetuximab as first-line treatment in a series of patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer and compares the results with those obtained in a historical control group of patients receiving weekly cetuximab. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> After chemotherapy plus cetuximab as first-line treatment, in Group A, 36 patients enrolled from October 2016 to November 2017, received biweekly cetuximab, administered at 500 mg/m<sup>2</sup>. Group B was a control group of patients treated at our institution from August 2015 to September 2016 and received weekly infusion of cetuximab at 250 mg/m<sup>2</sup>. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Confirmed overall response rates were, respectively, 19% for Group A and 17% for Group B according to intention-to-treat analysis. During the maintenance treatment, median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) were similar for both groups (PFS, 4.8 and 4.4 months; OS, 9.0 and 7.9 months; in Groups A and B, respectively). The most common adverse events among treated subjects included fatigue, rash, and hypomagnesemia. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Maintenance therapy with simplified biweekly cetuximab is a convenient, effective, and well-tolerated regimen in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.