2010 Volume 61 Issue 4 Pages 381-387
Fourteen patients who had oropharyngeal carcinoma were treated with intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy between December 2002 and December 2008. The patients were classified as 3 stage II, 3 stage III and 8 stage IV cases. According to the subsite of the oropharynx, the patients were classified as 6 lateral wall (LW), 5 anterior wall (AW) and 3 superior wall (SW) cases. Intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy by cisplatin was given weekly with concurrent radiotherapy for approximately four weeks, and the total number of infusions was decided according to intermediate judgments of effectiveness. The total dose of radiation was 60-81.4 Gy (average 65.3 Gy). As a result of this treatment, there were 12 CR (85.7%) and 2 PR (14.3%) for primary tumor and 4 CR (57.1%), 2 PR (28.6%), and 1 NC (14.3%) for lymph node. Regarding survival, 7 were alive and cancer-free (50%), 2 were alive with cervical lymph node metastasis (14.3%), 4 died of the primary tumor (28.6%) and 1 died of other disease (7.1%). The local control rates by subsite were 75%in LW, 66.7%in AW and 33.3%in SW. These results indicate in terms of both local control rate and functional preservation, that advanced AW cancer seems to be a good indication for intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy, but the therapy should be determined cautiously with respect to indications for LW and SW oropharyngeal carcinoma.
