Photodynamic therapy in the treatment of multiple primary tumours in the head and neck, located to the oral cavity and oropharynx.

OBJECTIVES

Multiple primary tumours are a common problem in the head and neck cancer patients. Curative surgery or radiotherapy of these tumours can be very mutilating or even impossible. This study aims at evaluating meta-tetrahydroxy-phenyl chlorin-mediated photodynamic therapy for second or multiple primary tumours in the head and neck.

DESIGN

Retrospective study of all patients with second or multiple primary tumours treated by photodynamic therapy over a 10-year period.

SETTING

All patients were treated in the Netherlands Cancer Institute, a tertiary referral centre for the head and neck cancer patients.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 27 patients with 42 the second or the multiple primary head and neck tumours were treated by photodynamic therapy (0.15 mg/kg meta-tetrahydroxy-phenyl chlorin).

MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES

Cure rates.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight of 42 tumours were cured (67%). Cure rates for stage I or in situ disease were 85%versus 38% for stage II/III.

CONCLUSIONS

Cure rates for photodynamic therapy of the multiple primary head and neck tumours were lower than previously described for first primaries, but were still very encouraging for this difficult patient population. The high cure rate obtained in stage I multiple primaries emphasises the importance of a meticulous follow-up of patients treated for the head and neck cancer to detect new tumours at a curable stage.