The EXTREME regimen, i.e. cetuximab added to platinum (100 mg/m² every 3 weeks ) and 5FU (96h continuous infusion at 1000 mg/m²/day every 3 weeks) during 6 cycles of treatment and continued as maintenance in patients with stable disease, is currently the standard of care in first line recurrent metastatic HNSCC.~From our previous experience (phase II GORTEC TPEx study), the TPEx regimen of 4 cycles of docetaxel-cisplatin-cetuximab followed by maintenance with cetuximab every 2 weeks seems more efficient (overall survival) compared to EXTREME regiment. Docetaxel combined with cisplatine (each administered at 75mg/m² every 3 weeks) also appeared more convenient than the standard Cisplatin-5FU-Cetuximab EXTREME regimen (4 cycles of chemotherapy instead of 6 cycles and no i.v. continuous infusion). Toxicity was manageable with G-CSF support. In addition the toxicity / efficacy profile also seems favourable as suggested by the excellent dose intensity achieved and the high rate of patients (78%) who were able to start maintenance therapy.~Taking together all these considerations, the TPEx regimen might be a good substitute for EXTREME as first-line treatment in patients with recurrent metastatic HNSCC, and it is justified and necessary to perform a direct comparison in a randomized trial to further test this hypothesis.
This study evaluates the efficacy of the new docetaxel-cisplatin-cetuximab regimen (TPEx) versus the standard platinum-5FU-cetuximab EXTREME regimen as a first-line treatment in recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC. Half of patients will be treated by TPEx regimen, while the other half will be treated by EXTREME regimen.