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mTHPC-mediated Photodynamic Therapy of Early Stage Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Comparison to Surgical Treatment

  • Head and Neck Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

mTHPC-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) is used for treatment of early head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. This study is a retrospective comparison of PDT with transoral surgery in the treatment of early primary squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity/oropharynx.

Methods

PDT data were retrieved from four study databases; surgical results were retrieved from our institutional database. To select similar primary tumors, infiltration depth was restricted to 5 mm for the surgery group. A total of 126 T1 and 30 T2 tumors were included in the PDT group, and 58 T1 and 33 T2 tumors were included in the surgically treated group.

Results

Complete response rates with PDT and surgery were 86 and 76 % for T1, respectively, and for T2 63 and 78 %. Lower local disease-free survival for PDT compared to surgery was found. However, when comparing the need for local retreatment, no significant difference for T1 tumors was found, while for T2 tumors surgery resulted in significantly less need for local retreatment. No significant differences in overall survival between surgery and PDT were observed.

Conclusions

PDT for T1 tumors results in a similar need for retreatment compared to surgery, while for T2 tumors PDT performs worse. Local disease-free survival for surgery is better than for PDT. This may be influenced by the benefit surgery has of having histology available. This allows an early decision on reintervention, while for PDT one has to follow a wait-and-see policy. Future prospective studies should compare efficacy as well as morbidity.

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Acknowledgment

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Sebastiaan A. H. J. de Visscher MD, DDS, Lieuwe J. Melchers MD, Pieter U. Dijkstra PhD, Jan L. N. Roodenburg PhD, DDS & Max J. H. Witjes PhD, MD, DDS

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Pieter U. Dijkstra PhD

  3. Department of Head and Neck Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Baris Karakullukcu MD & I. Bing Tan PhD, MD

  4. Department of Head and Neck, University College Hospital, London, UK

    Colin Hopper MD, FRCS(Ed), FDSRCS

Authors
  1. Sebastiaan A. H. J. de Visscher MD, DDS
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  2. Lieuwe J. Melchers MD
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  6. Colin Hopper MD, FRCS(Ed), FDSRCS
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  8. Max J. H. Witjes PhD, MD, DDS
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Correspondence to Sebastiaan A. H. J. de Visscher MD, DDS.

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de Visscher, S.A.H.J., Melchers, L.J., Dijkstra, P.U. et al. mTHPC-mediated Photodynamic Therapy of Early Stage Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Comparison to Surgical Treatment. Ann Surg Oncol 20, 3076–3082 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-013-3006-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-013-3006-6

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