Integration of chemotherapy into a combined modality treatment plan for head and neck cancer: a review

This review highlights the most important recent advances in the chemotherapeutic management of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. In patients who have recurrent or metastatic disease, methotrexate, platinum, and bleomyc are three active drugs when used as single agents. There is no evidence that high-dose methotrexate therapy is superior to more conventional weekly intravenous methotrexate in the treatment of recurrent disease. Platinum is a new agent that has demonstrated activity against hematogenous as well as regional disease. In the absence of evidence of a dose-response curve for platinum, the lower dosage schedules sould be used that can be given with acceptable toxicity on an outpatient basis. Combination chemotherapy has resulted in a high proportion of objective responders and approximately 20% complete remissions to any of several platinum-containing regimens. However, the median duration of response remains short and none of the combination drug programs has been established as yet as superior to single agent chemotherapy in a randomized trial