Significance of alkaline phosphatase and chemotherapy for head and neck carcinoma

As an adjunct to surgical treatment and radiation therapy, chemotherapy is becoming another major treatment for head and neck malignancies. While response rates have reached as high as 75% in some series, chemotherapy is time-consuming, expensive, and not without risk to the patient. If a subpopulation that would benefit from its use could be identified, this new modality could be applied on a more rational and selective basis. Recent work has suggested a prognostic role for serum alkaline phosphatase in carcinoma of the head and neck. In an attempt to verify this work, a study of 101 patients treated with an induction chemotherapy protocol for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was undertaken. Alkaline phosphatase and other variables possibly related to alkaline phosphatase were studied in detail. We are unable to verify a prognostic role for alkaline phosphatase.