Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage and locally advanced small bulk squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

Thirty patients with Stages I, II and III squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx (6, 12 and 12 patients, respectively) were entered into a combined modality protocol using preoperative chemotherapy, followed by resection with or without radical neck dissection and radiotherapy. None of the patients received prior treatment and all had good performance status. Primary sites included alveolar ridge (in nine patients), buccal mucosa (in eight), tongue (in six), floor of mouth (in five), and hard palate and tonsillar fossa in one each. Chemotherapy was given as a neoadjuvant debulking procedure using two courses of the Price-Hill regimen (5FU, methotrexate with citrovorum rescue, vincristine, bleomycin, and hydrocortisone) followed in 10 to 14 days by local resection for Stage I-II patients and radical neck dissection plus radiotherapy for Stage III patients. Response to chemotherapy alone was observed in 70% (21 of 30), with 17% (5 of 30) complete responders. Responses were seen in 100% of Stage I, 75% of Stage II, and 50% of Stage III patients. Age greater than 80 years was a poor prognostic indicator. Both men and women responded equally well. Of the 25 patients not entering CR with chemotherapy, a further 75% (11 of 15) did so after local resection and 50% (5 of 10) after local resection, radical neck dissection, and radiotherapy. Overall salvage rate post chemotherapy was 64% (16 of 25). All five patients in CR with chemotherapy alone are alive at a median follow-up time of greater than or equal to 43 months; full survival data are discussed. Toxicity was minimal and did not affect change in treatment course in any patient. These results show that further investigations on the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage and locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx are indicated.