LARYNX PRESERVATION AFTER INITIAL NON-CISPLATIN CONTAINING COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY PLUS RADIOTHERAPY, AS OPPOSED TO SURGICAL INTERVENTION WITH OR WITHOUT RADIOTHERAPY IN PREVIOUSLY UNTREATED ADVANCED HEAD ANDNECK-CANCER - FINAL ANALYSIS AFTER 12 YEARS FOLLOW-UP

After a median follow-up of 12 years, median overall survival of 73 pa tients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx was 65 mont hs. The 61 per cent of patients responding to two courses of initial s chedule A combination chemotherapy, not including cisplatin, and the 8 1 per cent of patients achieving a final complete remission after defi nitive local therapy, had median overall survival figures of 95 and 97 months respectively. Overall survival and relapse-free survival in 51 patients treated with radiotherapy only with larynx preservation, wer e not significantly different from the 21 patients who completed their surgery with pre- or postoperative radiotherapy: median overall figur es were 71 versus 65 months. These data add weight to our proposal tha t use of initial combination chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy may eliminate the need for radical surgery, so preserving the larynx in p atients with advanced disease, and provides evidence of some long-term benefit with 32 per cent of this entire group surviving 12 years.