Introduction: Recurrent head and neck carcinomas are notoriously difficult to treat. Salvage surgery, brachytherapy, and repeat external beam radiotherapy have all been utilized, achieving modest local control at the expense of elevated toxicity. We performed a retrospective review to evaluate the efficacy of single fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for the treatment of recurrent head and neck carcinomas.
Methods: Eighteen previously irradiated patients diagnosed with a locoregionally recurrent head and neck malignancy and treated with single fraction SRS from 2000 to 2016 were analyzed. Actuarial rates for local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) were calculated with Kaplan-Meier estimates.
Results: Median follow-up was 16.1 months and SRS dose was 13.3 Gy. One-year rate of LC was 52.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 29%-72%). Median OS was 25.4 months. Parotid gland primary had an increased risk of progressive disease (PD) following SRS (hazard ratio [HR] 4.24, p=0.02). Squamous cell histology was negatively associated with OS (HR 3.85, p=0.03). One patient experienced grade 2 radionecrosis.
Conclusions: Single fraction SRS is an acceptable treatment for previously irradiated patients with recurrent head and neck primary malignancies. Dose escalation to optimize LC should be examined.
Keywords: head and neck malignancy; recurrence; reirradiation; skull base; stereotactic radiosurgery.