Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with intravenous cisplatin and docetaxel for advanced oral cancer

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is a common treatment for advanced oral cancer, and its efficacy has been reported in many reviews. We have performed concurrent CCRT with intravenous cisplatin and docetaxel in patients with advanced oral cancer. The purpose of this report was to evaluate this treatment and to compare the outcome of this treatment with that of standard CCRT treatments for advanced head and neck cancer using intravenous administration. The patients were treated for primary advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma in our department between February 2003 and November 2015. In all, 17 patients (14 men, 3 women) with stage III (2 patients) stage IVA (10 patients), and stage IVB (5 patients) oral cancer were treated. The patient ages ranged from 44 to 87 years (average age: 65.4 years). The follow-up duration ranged from 5 to 117 months (average follow-up duration: 41 months, median follow-up duration: 39 months). The primary cancer sites were the maxillary gingiva (7 cases), mandible gingiva (3 cases), buccal mucosa (3 cases), tongue (3 cases), and floor of the mouth (1 case). The 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 52.9% and 33.0%, respectively, and both the 3-year and 5-year locoregional control rates were 50.9% as determined by the Kaplan-Meier method. The response rate was 94% (CR: 8 cases: 47% and PR: 8 cases: 47%). The incidences of toxicity greater than grade 3 included dermatitis and stomatitis in 9 cases each (52.9%), anemia in 3 cases (18.7%) and liver dysfunction in 1 case (6.2%). We found that the results of this therapy were equivalent to those of standard CCRT treatments for advanced head and neck cancer using intravenous administration, and the incidences of toxicity were lower than those of standard treatments. These findings suggested that this treatment is safe and useful for advanced oral cancer.