Analysis of survival after induction chemotherapy in pyriform sinus carcinoma

Three hundred seventy-one primary squamous cell carcinomas of the pyriform sinus were treated at Hôpital Laennec from 1970 through 1984 and retrospectively analyzed. The local and regional treatment consisted of initial surgical resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy. Forty-three patients were not treated by induction chemotherapy; 95 patients received preoperative chemotherapy with bleomycin as a single agent; 98 patients received three preoperative courses of vincristine, methotrexate, bleomycin, or endoxan, and 46 patients were treated by three courses of induction chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, bleomycin, methotrexate, or 5-fluorouracil. Seventy-two patients received less than 150 mg of bleomycin and 17 patients received only one or two cycles of multiple-agent chemotherapy. Survivals were higher when multiple-agent chemotherapy was employed as compared with single-agent induction chemotherapy. Further prospective investigations are necessary to confirm that induction chemotherapy enhances survival in pyriformk sinus cancers.