Docetaxel plus cetuximab biweekly is an active regimen for the first-line treatment of patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer

For patients with recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCCHN) limited therapeutic options exist. Only a subset of patients is suitable for combination chemotherapy regimens. Biweekly docetaxel plus cetuximab might be an alternative option. Thus, we performed this retrospective analysis in unselected patients in order to investigate the efficacy and safety of this regimen. Thirty-one patients receiving off protocol docetaxel (50 mg/m(2)) plus cetuximab (500 mg/m(2)) biweekly were included. Data collection included baseline demographic, response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) as well as toxicity. OS and PFS were 8.3 months (95% CI 4.8–11.8) and 4.0 months (95% CI 1.0–7.0), respectively. Three (9.7%) patients achieved a complete response and one patient (3.2%) a partial response. The DCR was 41.9% and we observed an ORR of 12.9%. The one-year survival rate was 25.8%. The therapy was well tolerated and the most common grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia (19.4%), hypomagnesaemia (12.9%) and acne-like rash (9.7%). Biweekly cetuximab/docetaxel is an effective regimen and well tolerated in R/M SCCHN patients not suitable for platinum doublet treatment. Further evaluation of this regimen in prospective clinical trials is warranted.