902P Clinical profile and treatment outcomes of patients treated with induction chemotherapy for locally advanced carcinoma oral tongue: A retrospective analysis

Abstract

Background: Locally advanced carcinoma oral tongue (stage III and IVa) is treated with surgery followed by adjuvant treatment. Induction chemotherapy (IC) has shown a reduction in mandible resection without compromising locoregional control (LRC) or overall survival (OS). This study is intended to evaluate the role of IC in locally advanced oral tongue retrospectively.Methods: Patients with oral tongue cancers stage III and stage IVa who received IC either with cisplatin+5-FU (PF) or docetaxel+cisplatin+5-FU (TPF) from January 1st, 2013 to Dec 31st, 2015 were included. All patients subsequently underwent surgery followed by adjuvant treatment. The primary endpoint was LRC and the secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS), OS, and patterns of relapse. The data was captured using structured proforma and followed up till April 30th, 2020. Survival curves were generated using Kaplan Meier curves. The difference in survival tested using Log-rank test.Results: Fifty-four patients were included in the study with a mean age of 46 years and the majority were males. Stage IVa patients were 57.4%, and 42.5% were stage III. The majority of patients received TPF (59.3%). All the patients completed the planned treatment. At a median follow-up of 58.9 months, 4-year LRC was 88.8%. The 4-year OS and DFS were 66.5% and 63.8%, respectively. Clinical downstaging was noticed in 55%, pathological downstaging in 68.5% of patients. One patient achieved a pathological complete response. A statistically significant difference was seen in DFS when compared among stage III and IVa (82.6% for stage III and 48.9% for stage IVa, p¼0.009). There was no significant difference in OS, DFS, or LRC. The median time to recurrence was 8.5months with 6 locoregional, 4 local, and 5 systemic recurrences.Conclusions: This study shows significant downstaging of tumors and a possibility for less extensive surgery. Induction chemotherapy in operable oral tongue cancers did not interfere with survival.Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors.