Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital Reports Findings in Head and Neck Cancer (Treatment patterns of targeted and nontargeted therapies and survival effects in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer in Taiwan): Oncology – Head and Neck Cancer

2023 JUL 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Oncology - Head and Neck Cancer is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Taiwan’s National Health Insurance has covered targeted therapy, namely cetuximab, for locally advanced head and neck cancers (LAHNC) since July 2009. This study examines treatment trends and survival effects of locally advanced head and neck cancer patients before and after Taiwan’s National Health Insurance covered cetuximab.”

Financial supporters for this research include Ministry of Science and Technology, Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kaohsiung Medical University Research Center Grant, Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, “We examined treatment trends and survival effects for patients with LAHNC using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients who received treatment within 6 months were categorized as either nontargeted or targeted therapy groups. We analyzed treatment trends with the Cochran-Armitage trend test and explored factors associated with treatment selection and survival effects using multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models. Of the 20,900 LAHNC patients included in the study, 19,696 received nontargeted therapy, while 1,204 received targeted therapy. Older patients with more comorbid conditions, advanced stages and patients with hypopharynx and oropharynx cancers were more likely to receive targeted therapy with concomitant cetuximab treatment. Patients who received targeted therapy in addition to other treatment modalities had a greater risk of one-year and long-term all-cause mortality or cancer-specific mortality than those without receiving targeted therapy (P < 0.001). Our study found an increasing trend in cetuximab utilization among LAHNC after reimbursement in Taiwan, but overall usage rates were low. LAHNC patients receiving cetuximab with other treatments had higher mortality risk than those receiving cisplatin, suggesting cisplatin may be preferred.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Further research is needed to identify subgroups that could benefit from concomitant cetuximab treatment.”

For more information on this research see: Treatment patterns of targeted and nontargeted therapies and survival effects in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer in Taiwan. BMC Cancer, 2023;23(1):567. BMC Cancer can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Cancer - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmccancer/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Ming-Yii Huang, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Additional authors for this research include Szu-Han Hu, Chung-Yu Chen and Hui-Min Hsieh.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-11061-4. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal BMC Cancer is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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