Combination chemotherapy with 5-FU and CDDP or CDDP analog for head and neck cancer

Combination chemotherapy with CDDP and 5-FU is one of the effective regimens for head and neck cancer. We studied the difference in the effects and adverse effects between two kinds of schedules of CDDP administration for CDDP-5-FU combination chemotherapy. For 13 patients, CDDP was administered on 5 consecutive days from day 1 to day 5 at a daily dose of 16 mg/m2 (Regimen A). For 14 patients CDDP was administered 80 mg on day 1 (Regimen B). 5-FU was administered 700 mg/m2/ day as a continuous drip infusion for 120 hours from day 1 to day 5. For regimen A, the response rate was 77%; for regimen B, it was 64%. The pattern of adverse effects showed a difference. Regimen B was more toxic for renal function than regimen A. But regimen A showed toxicity for bone marrow function. Acute phase nausea and vomit appeared more frequently in regimen B. The difference in the adverse effect pattern, which depends on the schedule of CDDP administration, seems important in order to apply this regimen for head and neck cancer patients safely. The schedule of CDDP administration should be changes depending on the renal and bone marrow function of patients. In order to evaluate the efficacy of UFT as adjuvant chemotherapy, UFT was administered p.o. to patients with maxillary sinus carcinoma for more than one year after definitive treatment with surgery or radiotherapy. Fifteen patients with UFT adjuvant chemotherapy showed significantly better survival rates than patients without adjuvant chemotherapy. We also studied adjuvant chemotherapy with CBDCA and FT for patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Administration with UFT (600 mg/day) from day 1 to day 14 with CBDCA 350 mg/m2 at day 7 was repeated more than twice. This regimen showed low toxicity and better survival for nasopharyngeal cancer patients. More clinical trials with this regimen for adjuvant chemotherapy are needed.