Chemotherapy using intra-arterial infusion for oral cancer.

There are three historically recognized methods of intra-arterial infusion for oral cancer: Conventional intra-arterial infusion via the superficial temporal artery: Superselective intra-arterial infusion via the femoral artery (Seldinger method), New superselective intra-arterial infusion via the superficial temporal artery. Here we report a recent instance of daily concurrent chemoradiotherapy using a new superselective intra-arterial infusion. A catheter with a curved tip was inserted superselectively into the feeding artery of the tumor via the superficial temporal artery (long-term catheterization has become possible using this method). The patient with T3 tongue cancer was treated by chemoradiotherapy. Radiotherapy (total dose: 40 Gy/4weeks) and superselective intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy using docetaxel (DOC) (total dose: 60 mg/m2/4weeks, 15 mg/m2/week) and cisplatin (CDDP) (total dose: 100 mg/m2/4weeks, 5 mg/m2/day) were concurrently performed daily, followed by surgery, after which no major complication was observed. The clinical effect was complete response (CR), and the pathological effect on the resected tumor after surgery was pathological CR. This method promises to be a new strategy of choice for the treatment of oral cancer.