ONCOmmunity

Multicenter Retrospective Study of Weekly Cetuximab Plus Paclitaxel for Recurrent or Metastatic Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

By: Tomofumi Naruse, Souichi Yanamoto, Mitsunobu Otsuru, Nobuhiro Yamakawa, Tadaaki Kirita, Yukari Shintani, Tatsushi Matsumura, Masaya Okura, Masashi Sasaki, Yoshihide Ota, Shin-Ichi Yamada, Hiroshi Kurita, Masahiro Umeda,

Department of Clinical Oral Oncology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan; naruse12@nagasaki-u.ac.jp.
2021-09-05; doi: 10.21873/anticanres.15395

Abstract

Background/aim

This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of the weekly cetuximab plus paclitaxel (wCmab-PTX) regimen with those of the EXTREME regimen in patients with recurrent or metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma (R/M OSCC).

Patients

This multicenter retrospective study involved a chart review of the clinical records of R/M OSCC patients treated with wCmab-PTX in each institution between January 2013 and December 2017. Data were collected, and the efficacy, safety, and treatment outcomes were analyzed.

Results

The best overall response and disease control rates were 48.4% and 61.3%, respectively. The median PFS and OS were 6 and 13 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in prognosis with or without previous platinum administration. The grade 3-4 adverse events were leukopenia (16.1%), followed by acne-like rash (12.9%), and neutropenia (9.7%). All adverse events, excluding more than grade 3 infusion reactions, were tolerable and manageable.

Conclusion

wCmab-PTX may be considered as a treatment option for R/M patients with OSCC that is refractory to platinum-based chemotherapy, or progressive disease after receiving chemotherapy.