Top Line: Does the time of year affect treatment outcomes for locally advanced head and neck cancer?
The Study: A large retrospective series from Switzerland spanning over 10 years suggested that locoregional control and progression free survival were better when radiation was administered during the darker half of the year. Hypotheses included things like seasonal and circadian effects on cell cycle progression. So, this study combined individual patient data from over 17,000 patients included in the MACH-NC and MARCH meta-analyses of radiation and chemoradiation for HNSCC to determine whether seasonality influenced treatment outcomes. There was no significant difference in 5-year PFS between treatment in darker versus lighter months in either dataset. Likewise there was no difference in locoregional failure. The analysis was further limited to patients treated only in far northern countries with greater differences in seasonal light. Even then, there were no differences in PFS or LRF. These findings are pretty definitive in showing no link between the time of year of HNSCC treatment and its outcomes.
TBL: The season of the year does not appear to affect treatment outcomes for patients receiving radiation for head and neck cancer. | Limkin, Radiother Oncol 2023
The Study: A large retrospective series from Switzerland spanning over 10 years suggested that locoregional control and progression free survival were better when radiation was administered during the darker half of the year. Hypotheses included things like seasonal and circadian effects on cell cycle progression. So, this study combined individual patient data from over 17,000 patients included in the MACH-NC and MARCH meta-analyses of radiation and chemoradiation for HNSCC to determine whether seasonality influenced treatment outcomes. There was no significant difference in 5-year PFS between treatment in darker versus lighter months in either dataset. Likewise there was no difference in locoregional failure. The analysis was further limited to patients treated only in far northern countries with greater differences in seasonal light. Even then, there were no differences in PFS or LRF. These findings are pretty definitive in showing no link between the time of year of HNSCC treatment and its outcomes.
TBL: The season of the year does not appear to affect treatment outcomes for patients receiving radiation for head and neck cancer. | Limkin, Radiother Oncol 2023