Chemoradiotherapy using retrograde superselective intra-arterial infusion for advanced oral cancer. Therapeutic effect for T3 and T4 squamous cell carcinoma of the upper gingiva

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy using retrograde superselective intra-arterial infusion demonstrates good local control and overall survival rates due to the advantage of simultaneous infusion of anticancer agent with the synergistic effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic results of 17 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the upper gingiva (T3, T4) treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy using retrograde superselective intra-arterial infusion. Treatment consisted of superselective intra-arterial infusions (docetaxel, total 60 mg/m2: cisplatin, total 150 mg/m2) and daily concurrent radiotherapy (total 60 Gy) for 6 weeks. Patients underwent biopsy of the primary lesion and radiological examinations 4 weeks after the completion of all treatments. Complete response (CR) of the primary site was achieved in 14 (82.4%) patients. Among them, 1 patient showed local recurrence and 1 patient showed cervical and pulmonary metastases. Four patients died, 1 of pulmonary metastases, 1 of cervical metastases, and 2 of uncontrolled local lesion during follow-up. Two-year cumulative local control and overall survival rates by the Kaplan-Meier method were 76.5% and 81.4%, respectively. (author)