title: Irradiation, bleomycin and hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of oral carcinoma.
abstract: The present report is the sixth in a series of combination therapy trials in oral carcinoma in South India conducted since 1960. In the fifth trial a combination of bleomycin (BLM) and irradiation was compared with irradiation alone. The results gained and the subsequent experience in an unselected series demonstrated in buccal mucosal squamous cell carcinomas a highly superior effect with the irradiation-BLM combination, but still revealed a failure rate around 30 per cent. The present clinical trial--irradiation + BLM was compared with irradiation + BLM + hyperbaric oxygen (HbO) and irradiation + placebo + HbO--was undertaken in an attempt to eliminate or at least reduce these failures. The results were unexpectedly disappointing in that the irradiation combined with BLM + HbO proved to be inferior to irradiation + BLM. An attempt has been made to elucidate the possible reasons for this surprising outcome.
mesh_terms: D001761:Bleomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D001761:Bleomycin