Chemosensitivity of head and neck cancer with the rapid thymidine incorporation assay and its clinical application.

The chemosensitivity of various head and neck cancers was investigated with the 5-day rapid thymidine incorporation assay in soft agar culture. The evaluability rate was 56%. Head and neck cancers were sensitive in vitro, in decreasing order, to peplomycin, cisplatin, bleomycin, 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin C, and doxorubicin. Primary tumors and neck metastases exhibited the same sensitivity, with 21% of all specimens tested responding. In vitro chemosensitivities were similar among patients younger than 69 years of age and those older than 70. The predictive accuracy for sensitivity tested prospectively in five cases was 80% and that for resistance in four was 75%.