Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that retrograde superselective intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy might be effective for cases of advanced oral cancer with cervical lymph nodes metastasis. Between February 2007 and November 2010, 20 oral cancer patients with cervical lymph node metastasis were treated with definitive retrograde superselective intraarterial chemoradiotherapy. Five patients had N1, 10 patients had N2b, and 5 patients had N2c disease. All patients were M0. Catheters were inserted into target arteries via superficial and occipital arteries, and the treatment consisted of superselective intra-arterial infusions（docetaxel, total 50-60mg/m2, cisplatin, total 125-150mg/m2） and concurrent radiotherapy（total 50-60Gy） for 5-6 weeks. Primary site complete response was achieved, and patients underwent neck dissection 5-8 weeks after treatment. Pathological complete response in the cervical lymph node metastasis was obtained in 13（65％） of 20 patients. Thirteen patients were alive, and 7 patients died（6 patients died of distant metastasis, and 1 patient died of progression of cervical lesion during follow-up). We conclude that this treatment strategy was an effective regimen for oral cancer with cervical lymph node metastasis.
