A new aspect of tri-modal therapy with superselective intra-arterial chemotherapy in maxillary sinus carcinoma

This superselective intra-arterial intervention technique enabled us to administer a higher dose of cisplatinum to the local lesion with a lower incidence of adverse issues by use of neutralizer, compared with the conventional methods.

A wide variety of modalities, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, alone or in combination, have been reported for the treatment of maxillary sinus cancer. However, there is still much controversy with regard to the optimum treatment to obtain better local control and acceptable preservation of shape and function. Since 2001, we have performed superselective intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy in combination with radiotherapy and surgery aiming at a higher local control rate.

This was a review of prospective collected data. The therapeutic design consisted of weekly intra-arterial infusion of high dose CDDP with concomitant radiotherapy and planned surgery performed during chemo-radiation therapy. From June 2001 to January 2004, 14 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of maxillary sinus underwent this treatment procedure at the University of Tokyo Hospital.

The local response rate with this combined therapy was 85.7%. Overall survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 78.6% and 56.2%, respectively, with median follow-up of 25.5 months.