Cancer Communications | 2021
Phase III trial of docetaxel cisplatin 5‐fluorouracil induction chemotherapy for resectable oral cancer suggests favorable pathological response as a surrogate endpoint for good therapeutic outcome
Abstract
Dear Editor, Induction chemotherapy has been utilized for decades in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil (TPF) regimen is the most recommended induction chemotherapy regimen forHNSCC and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) [1]. However, our initial phase III trial failed to demonstrate a significant survival benefit of TPF induction chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced OSCC [2]. Although the efficacy of TPF induction chemotherapy on the overall prognosis on locally advanced OSCC patients is unclear, it is highly possible that a subset of patients could still obtain better outcomes when treated with TPF induction chemotherapy. As favorable pathological response (FPR) has been considered the most reliable prognostic predictor of induction chemotherapy since the last decade [3], it could be crucial to further confirm whether FPR after induction chemotherapy could predict the survival benefit of OSCC patients. We herein report the final results of our TPF induction chemotherapy trial and evaluate its predictive value in OSCC patients. As previously described [2], 256 locally advanced (T12N1-2M0 or T3-4N0-2M0 according to the Union for International Cancer Control [2002]) OSCC patients were enrolled in this prospective, open-labeled, randomized