A multicenter retrospective observational study on the safety and efficacy of cetuximab for patients with oral cancer（Original Article）

Abstract

We conducted a multicenter retrospective observational study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of cetuximab against oral cancer. Adverse events and clinical outcomes were retrospectively evaluated in 145 patients who underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy using cetuximab between December 2012 and June 2014.
Sixty-five patients underwent radiotherapy combined with cetuximab and 80 received chemotherapy with cetuximab. All patients were hospitalized during the first administration of cetuximab. The main Grade ≥ 3 adverse events caused by cetuximab were infusion reaction, acneiform rash and interstitial pneumonia in 3.4%, 5.5%, and 2.1% of the patients, respectively. Interstitial pneumonia developed in five patients who were treated with both radiotherapy and cetuximab. The overall response rate to both radiotherapy and cetuximab was 64.8%, with one-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates of 24.1% and 51.8%, respectively. These rates were 54.5%, 25.0% and 58.6%, respectively among the patients treated only by chemotherapy using cetuximab, cisplatin (or carboplatin) and 5-FU. Cetuximab was well-tolerated, feasible and effective against oral cancer.