Objective: Twenty-seven patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were entered in a multicenter study to determine the efficacy of the paclitaxel-carboplatin association. Methods: Standard eligibility criteria applied, i.e. measurable disease, and chemotherapy given as induction treatment or concomitant chemoradiotherapy was allowed if completed more than 6 months prior to the study. Every 21 days, paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 and carboplatin AUC 6 were administered. The patient group included 3 females and 24 males with a median age of 61 years (range 39–75 years). Results: All patients were assessable for toxicity and 24 for responses. Main grade 3–4 toxicities were: neutropenia (62.9%), febrile neutropenia (18.5%), anemia (11.1%), thrombocytopenia (14.8%), mucositis (7.4%) and vomiting (7.4%). Among the intent-to-treat population, 29.6% of patients had an objective response, with a median response duration of 4.2 months (range 1–5.7 months). Stable and progressive disease were observed in 11.1 and 48.1% of patients, respectively. The median overall survival was 7.2 months (range 0.5–10.9 months). Conclusion: From these data, paclitaxel-carboplatin seems to have an activity in recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, but the high level of toxicity highlights the need to search for a safer chemotherapy combination.

Keywords:
Paclitaxel, Carboplatin, Recurrence, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Chemotherapy
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2000
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