125Iodine implants as an adjuvant to surgery and external beam radiotherapy in the management of locally advanced head and neck cancer.

125Iodine seeds either individually placed or inserted into absorbable Vicryl suture carriers were utilized in conjunction with surgery and external beam radiotherapy in an attempt to increase local control rates in patients with (1) advanced oropharyngeal and laryngopharyngeal cancers (T3-T4, N2-N3), (2) massive cervical lymphadenopathy (N3) and an unknown primary site and (3) locally recurrent head and neck cancers. Forty-eight patients were treated with 55 implants. The carotid artery was implanted in 15 patients, while seven patients had seeds inserted into the base of the skull region, and another three patients had implants near cranial nerves. Eighteen of the 48 patients were treated for cure. The actuarial survival at five years in this subgroup was 50%. The overall local control in the head and neck area was 58%. In this group no patients to date have had a local failure in the implanted volume. Seventeen patients with comparable stage of disease treated prior to 1974 with curative intent without 125I implants were analyzed retrospectively for comparison with the implanted patients. The actuarial survival of these patients was 18% and the overall head and neck control was 21%. These differences are statistically significant at a P value of 0.01 and 0.007, respectively. Seventeen patients received implants for local recurrence. The local control in the head and neck area was 50%; however, the 2.5 year actuarial survival was only 17%. The complication rate was 11% (six of 55 implants). The improved survival, the high local control, and the minimal complication rates in this series makes the intraoperative implantation of 125I seeds and effective adjunctive treatment to surgery and external beam irradiation.