Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy Followed by Surgery in Treating Patients With Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity

Exclusion Criteria

• •Metastatic disease beyond the neck or supraclavicular area as demonstrated by positron emission tomography (PET)/CT or biopsy
• •KPS 3 or worse
• •Gross disease in the retrostyloid (high level II) or retropharyngeal lymph node regions by CT or PET/CT
• •Patients may not have received previous therapy for their head and neck SCC, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery beyond biopsy
• •Second primary malignancy; exceptions are 1) patient had a second primary malignancy but has been treated and disease free for at least 3 years, 2) in situ carcinoma (e.g. in situ carcinoma of the cervix), 3) non-melanomatous carcinoma of the skin
• •Serious concomitant systemic disorders (including active infections) that would compromise the safety of the patient or compromise the patient's ability to complete the study, at the discretion of the investigator; this includes scleroderma
• •Women who are pregnant; women of childbearing age must agree to undergo a urine pregnancy test prior to therapy and to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation and for 6 months after; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• •Patient is deemed to not be a surgical candidate by ENT