Postoperative treatment for head and neck cancer: the emerging role of EGFR-targeted therapy

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) commonly invades local structures and spreads to regional lymph nodes. Treatment with surgery alone is usually inadequate to achieve optimal locoregional control in locally advanced SCCHN, which has led to the use of postoperative radiotherapy in selected high-risk patients (1). Pivotal randomized trials reported in the early 90s showed that postoperative radiotherapy results in better locoregional control than preoperative radiotherapy and that the optimal dose is reached at about 63 Gy (2,3).