Subject(s)
Mandibular Fractures/pathology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Mandibular Fractures/therapy , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Acute cranial neuropathy followed intra-arterial chemotherapy with Cisplatin for a squamous cell cancer of the mouth. The favourable course, histological studies and local trophic impairment suggested local neurotoxicity due to Cisplatin accumulation in cranial nerves. The patient was the first to develop such a toxic effect in a series of 35 consecutive patients treated with the same therapy.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/drug therapy , Cisplatin/adverse effects , Cranial Nerves/pathology , Mouth Neoplasms/drug therapy , Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Cisplatin/administration & dosage , Cisplatin/therapeutic use , Cranial Nerves/drug effects , Humans , Infusions, Intra-Arterial , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The authors report the final analysis of a prospective phase I-II study in 53 previously untreated patients with squamous cell carcinoma (48 patients) and other histologic classifications (5 patients) of the head and neck region. Treatment consisted of cisplatin 10 mg infused intra-arterially in a 12-hour period, twice a day for 5 to 10 days via an external infusion pump. After a rest period of 5 to 7 days treatment could be restarted, with the same schedule, until a maximal total dose of 400 mg or toxicity. Patients who received at least 200 mg of cisplatin were considered evaluable for response. In 3 patients catheterization was not performed because of technical difficulties, in 9 treatment was stopped before reaching the total dose of 200 mg, (because of catheter-related toxicity in 7 patients, drug toxicity in 1, and both toxicities in 1); therefore, the patients evaluable for response, drug toxicity and catheter toxicity were 41, 43, and 49 respectively. Overall, 8 patients (19.5%) obtained a complete response (CR) and 20 (48.8%) a partial response (PR) with an objective response rate (RR) of 68.3%. Eleven patients obtained a minor response (MR), whereas only 2 (4.8%) developed a progressive disease (PD). The figures, limited only to squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity and oropharinx (33 patients), are as follows: CR 8 (24.2%), PR 17 (51.5%), MR 7 (21.2%), and PD 1 (3.0%) for an objective RR of 75.7%. No grade IV and only 5 grade III toxicity were observed; whereas the most frequent grade I and II drug-related toxicities were anemia, transient renal impairment, and thrombocytopenia. Catheter-related toxicity accounted for five central nervous system complications (three transient motor weaknesses, one hemiparesis, one embolism) and six local problems (one coagulation of the catheter, one displacement, and four local extravasations). Intra-arterial cisplatin is, in our experience, an effective treatment and further trials employing cisplatin combination chemotherapy are needed in order to establish the exact role of the intra-arterial approach before definitive local treatments.
