Background: Cisplatin is an active drug in head and neck cancer. Paclitaxel seems a promising drug. This article reports a phase II assessment of the combination of the two.
Patients and methods: Twenty-three patients were treated with paclitaxel 90 mg/m2 over three hours plus cisplatin 60 mg/m2 every other week. Sixteen patients had locoregional disease and seven had metastatic disease. None of the patients had previously been treated with chemotherapy. Nine patients had had radiotherapy to the target lesions.
Results: One patient was not evaluable for response. Partial responses were observed in 32% of evaluable patients. Toxicity included asthenia (56%), neutropenia, peripheral neuropathy, anemia and vomiting.
Conclusions: The overall response rate observed in this study does not seem to justify the use of this chemotherapy regimen in the palliative setting.