From September 1980 to August 1981, 25 patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were treated at the Centro Oncologico, Trento, by a chemo-radiotherapeutic combination. The treatment protocol consisted of 4–6 courses of VBM (vincristine, bleomycin and methotrexate) followed by conventional radiotherapy (65 Gy). Only to VBM responders (15 patients) were administered 10 cycles of vincristine-methotrexate. At the end of induction chemotherapy an overall response of 60 % (12 % complete, 48 % partial) was obtained. At the end of radiotherapy the responses were 52.5 % complete and 35.5 % partial, for an overall response of 88 %. The overall survival at 60 months was 8 %. This combined approach, in spite of the satisfactory immediate local response rate, does not offer advantages for survival in comparison to conventional treatment modalities.
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