Postoperative radiation therapy significantly improves overall survival in patients with node-positive head and neck cancer compared with surgery alone, according to an article in the June issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

Radiation therapy is commonly used after surgery to treat some head and neck cancers, but very few studies have been conducted to determine impact on survival. Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine departments of Radiation Oncology and Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery in New York used the current study to determine the impact of radiation and surgery on overall survival.

Between 1988 and 2001, 5,297 patients with a median age of 59 years who were diagnosed with node-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were treated with surgery and/or adjuvant radiation therapy.

Patients were surveyed approximately 4.4 years after treatment. Adding radiation to surgery improved patients' chance of survival by 25 percent in all nodal stages (N1-N3), including N1 stage, even though radiation is typically recommended only for patients with N2 and N3 stage disease.

"This study provides evidence that radiation should be considered after surgery for most head and neck cancer patients with positive lymph nodes," said Johnny Kao, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

"For these patients, adding radiation improves not only locoregional control but also greatly increases their chance for overall survival. The findings of this study should serve to enhance the use of adjuvant radiation as the most effective treatment method for these types of cancer."