Clinical potential of synchronous radiotherapy and chemotherapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma.

The equivocal results of past treatment regimens in which concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy were used may have resulted from a lack of site-specific active drugs that were also true radiation sensitizers. This report demonstrates an experience with 3 chemotherapeutic agents, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and mitomycin, given simultaneously with radiation for locally advanced squamous cell carcinomas of such diverse sites as the anal canal, cervix, and esophagus. Early results show that the toxicity of these combination regimens is generally acceptable and indicate that such synchronous combination treatments may be superior in local control and survival to radiotherapy alone.