The role of chemotherapy in the management of patients with head and neck cancer.

Recent advances in the management of patients with head and neck cancer point to an expanding role of chemotherapy, resulting in an increased involvement of the medical oncologist in the multidisciplinary care of these patients. This review focuses on patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx. A comprehensive review of the clinical trial data that have defined new standards of care and a detailed presentation of widely used chemotherapeutic regimens, including both cytotoxic and molecularly targeted agents, are presented. Information on human papilloma virus-associated squamous cell cancer of the head and neck is presented, and implications in the clinical management of this subgroup of patients based on the epidemiologic and pathologic characteristics are discussed.