L-Glutamine and Survival of Patients with Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Receiving Chemoradiotherapy

We previously reported that L-glutamine reduces the severity of mucositis caused by chemoradiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer. However, impact glutamine on anti-tumor effect remains controversial. This study, which included 40 patients, investigated whether influences survival. Radiation therapy (total: 66 or 70 Gy), cisplatin, docetaxel were co-administered for a period 6 weeks. Patients randomly assigned to receive either (glutamine group, n = 20) placebo (placebo during entire course chemoradiotherapy. compared overall survival progression-free rates between two groups. At 5-year follow-up, 16 (80%) 13 (72%) groups, respectively, survived (with no significant difference [glutamine group: 55.2 ± 12.7 months vs. 48.3 21.3 months]). A total 14 (70%) 12 (67%) did not experience disease progression 46.7 19.5 43.6 25.2 These findings indicate does influence locally advanced cancer receiving