Quite a bit of research seems to show that chemotherapy added to radiation does produce a significantly improvement in local control and survival rate compared to radiation alone. In fact, chemoradiation (often without any post-treatment surgery) is done at most of the top CCC's for HNC. I have read ~10-15% improvement but that varies by who did the research and the stage of the cancers treated. The chemo is given to increase the sensitivity of the cancer cells to radiation; it is often (but not always) a lower dose than would be given if the chemo drug were the primary therapy.

The downside is that toxicity of the treatment and intensity of side-effects also increases, sometimes to the point where treatment has to be delayed. (Which can reduce treatment effectiveness.) So there is a balancing act involved.

Both the CCCs at which we consulted prescribed chemotherapy alone (for my husband) -- he had already had his cancerous primary (right tonsil) removed but no surgery to the lymph nodes nor to the residual tumor at base of his tongue. However they differed in which drug. We went with carboplatin which was almost a non-event, compared to the radiation and the amifostine (!).

Gail and Barry