Trial Information

Prognostic Value of Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients With Locally Advanced and Metastatic/Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer

1. Histologically or cytopathologically proven head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
(HNSCC)

2. Disease status: locally advanced or recurrent/metastasized at initial presentation

3. Age >=20 years old

4. Could understand and signed the informed consents of this study

5. Enrolled patients were classified into three distinct subgroups:

1. Patients underwent curative surgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT)
because of some pathologic features such as positive margin, pathologic N2, and
extracapsular spread (ECS) of involved lymph nodes indicating early relapse
according to recommendation from National Comprehensive Cancer Network(NCCN)
guidelines;

2. Patients with advanced disease directly underwent definitive concurrent
chemoradiotherapy(CCRT);

3. Patients were to have palliative chemotherapy for existence of distant metastasis
or poor general condition for definitive CCRT.

6. Blood samples were collected within 7 days before the first dose of chemotherapy.