Primary Chemotherapy in Resectable Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The addition of primary chemotherapy to standard surgery was unable to improve survival. However, in this study, primary chemotherapy seemed to play a role in reducing the number of patients who needed to undergo mandibulectomy and/or radiation therapy. Variations in the criteria used to select patients for these treatment options may make it difficult to generalize these results, but there appears to be room for using preoperative chemotherapy to spare destructive surgery or radiation therapy in patients with advanced, resectable oral cavity cancer.