Study summary

Lowering radiation dose did not hold up against standard chemoradiation

NRG-HN005 trial · 382 people, phase 2/3 · Presented October 2024 (ASTRO), International Journal of Radiation Oncology

What was tested

Reduced-dose radiation (60 Gy) with cisplatin or with nivolumab, against standard 70 Gy radiation with cisplatin, for lower-risk HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.

What they found

• The standard arm did so well (98% progression-free at 2 years) that neither reduced-dose arm proved non-inferior.
• The 60 Gy plus cisplatin arm had 88.6% progression-free survival at 2 years.

What it means

Standard chemoradiation remains the benchmark; de-escalation must now target smaller, well-defined groups.