6085 Background: A variety of regimens have been used for induction chemotherapy in locally advanced head & neck cancers. Cisplatin & 5 FU drug combination is inferior to the combination of taxane & these 2 drugs. However, often in clinical practice at our center giving TPF is difficult in view of logistics & tolerance issues. In such scenarios we prefer to use 2 drug combination of platinum & taxane. However no study has addressed whether when the 2 drug combination includes taxane, is it still inferior to the 3 drug combination and which the taxane of choice is. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of patients undergoing induction chemotherapy in oral cavity cancers from 2010-2012. We chose for analysis those patients who had a baseline scan and a follow-up scan done within 2 weeks of completion of the second cycle of induction chemotherapy. Response was scored in accordance with RECIST 1.1. Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 16. Chi- square analysis was done to compare response rates between regimens. Results: Two hundred & forty five patients were indentified. The median age was 45 years (24-70 years), 208 (84.9%) were male patients & in 154 patients (62.9%) had primary in buccal mucosa. The regimen received were TPF 22 (9%), TP (Docetaxel + cisplatin) 97 (39.6%), PP (paclitaxel+cisplatin) 89 (36.3%), TC (Docetaxel+ carboplatin) 16 (6.5%) & PC (paclitaxel + carboplatin) 21 (8.6%).The overall response rates (RR) were CR, PR,SD & PD in 4 (1.6%), 56 (22.9%), 145 (59.2%) & 40 (16.3%). On comparison, 3 drug regimen (TPF) had 50% RR as against 22% RR with 2 drug regimen (p=0.004). On comparison for taxane, docetaxel containing regimens had 30.3% RR as against 17.2% RR with paclitaxel containing regimens (p=0.018). There was no statistically significant difference in RR between patients receiving carboplatin or cisplatin. Conclusions: TPF had better RR than a 2 drug taxane-containing regimen and docetaxel leads to a better RR than paclitaxel for induction chemotherapy in locally advanced oral cavity cancers.
Role of induction chemotherapy in locally advanced T4b oral cavity cancers: A single Institute experience