Nelie,
what you are saying is the same thing. "Local/regional" odds improvement is the same as the benefit for a chemo adjunct to radiation (in others words - not in addition to). I have not seen any studies to indicate that chemo by itself has any benefit for local and regional controls for head & neck cancer. I have read that Cisplatin, combined with radiation at three week intervals will improve survival odds by as much as about 15%. I don't know what the numbers are for Carboplatin, a slightly less toxic relative of Cisplatin.

Glenn is speaking of an entirely different aspect which is one of distant metastesis. One of the sinister aspects of SCC is that the tumor sends out thousands of cancer cells daily into the blood stream so there is a possibility of new primary tumors occuring in distant locations such as the brain, kidneys, esophogus, liver and/or lungs. This is why many argue for regular PET/CT's, not so much for screening for H&N recurrence but the distant metastesis issue. Your H&N team typically will not order such a PET/CT as it isn't that useful for H&N screening post Tx because of the propensity for false positives. It is a true medical paradox.

The cancer cells will typically "stick" in places where transitions with the blood are happening, like the aforementioned organs. A healthy immune system can take out these rogue cells as well, so it is hardly an automatic thing to have a distant metastesis. The long term survivors here will testify to that.

Ruth, studies have already been done about the efficacy of using a chemotherapy adjunct (soecifically Cisplatin or Platinol) to radiation. I do not know whether it is cancer specific but I would hazard a guess that it is not. Cisplatin is an alkylating agent that enhances the oxygenation of the tissues and increases the efficacy of the radiation.