背景：本篇研究老年口咽及下咽癌族群（以治癒為抗癌目的並且沒有接受手術的病人）：探討前
導性化療合併同步化放療與單獨接受放射治療之效果比較。方法：我們回溯收集 2003 至 2007 年，組織學證實為口咽或下咽癌，年紀超過 70 歲並且沒接受手術的病人 44 位。 病人分為兩組，A 組（前導性化療加上同步化放療，n = 22）和 B 組（只放射治療，n = 22）。依病人的腫瘤位置，性別及臨床分期在兩組中使用一對一（1：1）配對分析。總共有三十六位男性及八位女性案例，年齡中位數為 76 歲（分佈範圍為 70~88 歲）。實驗的觀察標的（end point）為病人的存活率及腫瘤控制。結果：所有病人追蹤的時間中位數為 35 個月（分佈範圍為1~72 個月）。在第三年，A 組呈現比B組更好的腫瘤控制，在局部區域控制率（86.4%比36.4%，p = 0.002） 及無病生存率（61.4%比 36.4% ，p = 0.035）。然而，在疾病特異生存率及總生存率上，兩組沒有顯著差異。可以想見的是，A 組比 B 組有更多的治療副作用（Grade 3~4 的黏膜炎，63.6% 比27.3% ，p = 0.015）。結論：對沒有接受手術的老年口咽下咽癌患者來說，前導性化療合併同步化放療比起只做放射治療，明顯增進腫瘤控制率，只做放射治療應該只適合臨床上不適合做化療的病人。

Background : This study intended to compare treatment results between induction chemotherapy plus chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and radiotherapy (RT) alone in elderly oropharynx-hypopharynx carcinoma patients who were treated curatively and non-surgically.Methods : Between 2003 and 2007, we retrospectively included 44 histologically proven oropharynx-hypopharynx carcinoma patients who were aged more than 70 years and treated non-surgically. Two groups were defined: the group A (induction chemotherapy plus CCRT, n = 22) and the group B (RT alone, n = 22). Patients in the
group B were 1:1 match-paired to those in the group A by using three factors: cancer subsite, gender, and clinical stage. Totally, there were 36 males and 8 females, with a median age of 76 years (range, 70 – 88 years). Patient survival and cancer control were defined as study end points.Results : The median follow-up time for all patients was 35.0 months (range, 1 – 72 months). At 3 years, the group A demonstrated better cancer controls than the group B, in terms of locoregional control (86.4% versus 36.4%, p = 0.002) and disease-free survival (61.4% versus 36.4%, p = 0.035). However, no statistically significant differences
were found on disease-specific and overall survivals. Not surprisingly, more treatment-related toxicity were observed in the group A than in the group B (grade 3-4 mucositis, 63.6% versus 27.3%, p = 0.015).
Conclusions : For elderly oropharynx-hypopharynx carcinoma patients treated nonsurgically,induction chemotherapy plus CCRT significantly improves cancer control when compared with RT alone. RT alone should be reserved for patients who are medically contra-indicated to chemotherapy.