radiotherapy head and neck cancer TGF-beta1

Patients and methods Twenty nine patients with advanced head and neck cancer were treated with curative radio(chemo)therapy. The dynamics of the TGF-b1 level was assessed separately for patients with and without chemotherapy. Treatment response was correlated to the TGF-b1 level. Results Eighteen patients achieved complete remission, eight partial remission and three patients progressed. Patients treated with radiotherapy had significantly higher initial plasma TGF-b1 level compared to radiochemotherapy patients (p=0,044). During the treatment, there was a significant decrease in patients treated with radiochemotherapy (p=0,008) but not in radiotherapy patients (p=0,34). Conclusion The combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy significantly decreases plasma TGF-b1 level in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Treatment response cannot be predicted using TGF-b1.