Intraarterial Chemo + Radiation May Up Cerebral Infarctions

Findings from comparison with intravenous chemoradiotherapy
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MONDAY, April 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Intraarterial chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancer is tied to a higher incidence of cerebral infarction, compared to intravenous CRT, according to a study published online March 25 in Head & Neck.

Sayaka Suzuki, M.D., from the University of Tokyo, and colleagues used the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database (2010 to 2013) to identify patients with head and neck cancer receiving platinum-based chemotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy, either intraarterial or intravenous CRT (propensity score-matched 1:4).

The researchers found that the occurrence of cerebral infarction was significantly higher in the intraarterial CRT group than in the intravenous CRT group (11 of 775 versus 12 of 3,100; P = 0.002). There was no significant difference noted in either mucosal toxicity or febrile neutropenia.

"This result is useful when considering the procedure-related risks and the potential benefits of intraarterial CRT," the authors write.

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