Weekly paclitaxel for platin-resistant stage IV head and neck cancer patients.
CONCLUSIONS
Weekly paclitaxel may be an active and well tolerated chemotherapy regimen for patients with platin-resistant advanced head and neck cancer.


OBJECTIVE
Weekly paclitaxel should be an active and well tolerated regimen for palliative treatment of platin-resistant patients with recurrent or metastatic carcinoma of the head and neck. We analyzed the antitumor activity and toxicity profile.


METHODS
Sixty consecutive patients with advanced head and neck cancer were treated with 1 h infusion of paclitaxel, 80 mg/m(2) weekly, for 6 consecutive weeks. Patients who showed disease response or disease stabilization continued until progression of disease.


RESULTS
A total of 719 doses of paclitaxel were administered to the 60 patients. No complete response was observed. Partial response and stable disease were observed in 26 (43.3%) and 9 (15%) patients, respectively. Median time to tumor progression for patients who responded to therapy was 6.2 months (SD=1.3; 95% CI, 3.7-8.6) and the overall median survival in this group of patients was 8.5 months (SD=1.4; 95% CI, 5.7-11.2). The main toxic effects were leukopenia (26.6%), anemia (43.3%), fatigue (37.4%), alopecia (18.7%), rash/desquamation (13.3%), and thrombophlebitis (6.8%).
Oncology Department, Institut Clinic de Malalties Hemato-Oncologiques, University of Barcelona, Augusto Pi i Sunyer Memorial Institute for Biomedical Research, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Villarroel St 170, Barcelona, Spain.
Juan José
JJ
Grau
Miguel
M
Caballero
Eugenia
E
Verger
Mariano
M
Monzó
Jose Luís
JL
Blanch
D000368:Aged; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010039:Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D010166:Palliative Care; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D016019:Survival Analysis
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds; D017239:Paclitaxel