Background & objective: Induction chemotherapy play an important role in treatment of the patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma. This study was designed to evaluate the role of induction chemotherapy with single agent bleomycin A5 in treating stage T2 tongue squamous cell carcinoma.
Methods: The authors retrospectively analyzed the influence of surgery and induction chemotherapy with single agent bleomycin A5 plus surgery on survival rate and locoregional control among 72 patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma.
Results: The 5-year survival rates were 81.46% and 57.14% respectively for the group of surgery alone and the group of induction chemotherapy plus surgery, the difference between the two groups were significant (P = 0.0229). The rates of locoregional recurrence were 22.2%, 33.3% and the medial time of recurrence was 20, 24 months respectively in the two groups. For the patients in stage II and stage III plus stage IV, there was no difference between the two groups for the 5-year survival rate (P = 0.0949; P = 0.0739). For the patients in stage III plus stage IV, the rates of locoregional recurrence were 12.5%, 35.7% and the medial time of recurrence was 12, 12.8 months, respectively, in the two groups.
Conclusions: It has no significant role in treatment of the patients with stage T2 tongue squamous cell carcinoma for single agent bleomycin A5. Induction chemotherapy using single agent bleomycin A5 did not improve the 5-year survival rate for early or late primary lesions. The impact on the control rate of locoregional recurrence would be studied further for single agent bleomycin A5.