Induction chemotherapy in head and neck cancer

Induction chemotherapy can produce response rates of 60% to 90% which are complete in 20% to 50% of previously untreated patients with squamous cell head and neck cancer. It was hoped that this dramatic chemotherapy-induced tumor shrinkage would result in more successful locoregional treatment and prove useful in disease management. Despite many promising phase II studies of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a large number of well-controlled phase III trials have shown no survival benefit. Distant metastases may be reduced, however, and organ preservation seems more likely with this method of treatment. An understanding of the benefits of chemotherapy in this disease must recognize the multiple reasons why these patients die, and the need for greater sophistication in our endpoint analysis.