Ineffectiveness of 5-Fluorouracil and Cis-Platin as Second-Line Chemotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Seventeen patients with heavily pretreated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were submitted to a combination of 5-fluorouracil, 500 mg/m² on days 1–4, and cis-platin, 50 mg/m² on day 5, repeated every 21 days. Before administration of 5-fluorouracil, N⁵,N¹⁰-methyl-tetrahydrofolate, 200 mg/m² i.v., was given. Only 1 partial response and 4 stable disease were observed, and the median survival of the entire group was 5 months. Although all patients had been heavily pretreated and a considerable percentage (6/17, 35.2 %) of these showed resistance to first-line therapy, this combination seems to be ineffective as second-line therapy in head and neck cancer.