Twenty patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCC H/N) were treated with Adriamycin (doxorubicin) at a dosage of 60 mg/m* at 3-week intervals. No patient had received surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy before treatment with Adriamycin. Responses were observed in 44% of 18 evaluable tumors. We conclude that Adriamycin is a highly active drug in SCC H/N when no prior treatment has been administered.
Cancer W2573-2575,1985
LTHOUGH a survival advantage for patients treated
A with chemotherapy has yet to be demonstrated, response rates as high as 94% have been reported for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCC H/N).' Unfortunately, response durations have been brief, possibly because of resistant cell populations present at the time of initial treatment. The development of alternating, non-cross-resistant drug combinations may result in longer remission durations and possibly cure.* Initially, effective single chemotherapeutic agents must be identified, recognizing that activity cannot be accurately assessed in patients who have received prior surgery, radiation, or ~hemotherapy.~ Next, drug combinations more effective than single agents alone must be identified and noncrossresistance among differing effective combinations must be demonstrated. Finally, a comparison of the alternating and nonalternating regimen must be made to demonstrate a survival advantage for patients receiving the alternating regimen. This report represents an initial step in the development of such a strategy. Adriamycin (doxorubicin) is a drug with a broad spectrum of antitumor activity, and this report establishes for the first time its activity in previously untreated SCC H/N.
Methods