Definitive (chemo)radiotherapy is a curative alternative for standard of care in advanced stage squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the 7th most common cancer in men and the 9th most common cancer in women in The Netherlands. Per year, 900 out of 2900 head and neck cancer patients are diagnosed with oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) [1]. Although there has been a shift towards organ preservation treatment in other head and neck cancer subsites [2], the standard of care for advanced oral cavity cancer is surgery with adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy (CRT). However, especially in patients with locally advanced disease, this surgery may lead to extensive mutilation and results in a disappointing 5-year overall survival of 65% in stage III and 37% in stage IV disease [3].

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