Induction VBM plus radiotherapy, versus radiotherapy alone for advanced head and neck cancer: long-term results.

Between 1978 and 1981, 85 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomized to receive induction VBM followed by radiotherapy, or radiotherapy alone. The shortest follow-up is thus 6 years. The median survival of patients receiving induction chemotherapy was 46 weeks, that of the radiotherapy group alone was 75 weeks. As the two groups were not balanced despite randomization, multivariate methods (GLIM) were used to identify significant prognostic factors. These were: response to radiotherapy (P less than 0.001), nodal status (P less than 0.001), age (P less than 0.01), and histological grade (P less than 0.01). Neither treatment with, nor response to, chemotherapy had a significant effect on survival.