Immunomodulated anterior chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced tongue cancer: An Institutional experience

CONTEXT: Sequential induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (PF) along with interferon-alpha2b and concurrent chemoradiation offers superior loco-regional control for locally advanced carcinoma of oral tongue. AIMS: The study was designed to evaluate the beneficial role of induction PF chemotherapy and interferon-alpha2b followed by chemoradiation over definitive chemoradiation only for patients with locally advanced carcinoma of oral tongue. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Phase II randomized, prospective, open-labeled, single-institutional study. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Fifty patients were randomized into 2 arms. Arm A patients were treated with induction chemotherapy with PF regimen for 3 cycles and interferon alpha 2b, 3MU biweekly for 6 such followed by chemoradiation with cisplatin 30 mg/ m(2)/ week and external radiotherapy. Arm B patients received chemoradiation only, in the same dose schedule as in Arm A. Statistical analysis used: Chi-square test was done to find out the statistical correlation between the two arms. For plotting the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for the two arms, Kaplan-Meier method was used. RESULTS: The loco-regional response rate of patients treated with interferon containing induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation was superior to concurrent chemoradiation only. However the toxicities and treatment interruption were more in patients treated with induction chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: In locally advanced carcinoma of oral tongue, induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (PF) along with interferon alpha 2b followed by concurrent chemoradiation may produce superior loco-regional control with manageable toxicities that needs to be validated by more randomized trials with adequate number of patients.