Combination chemotherapy of carboplatin and paclitaxel for advanced/metastatic salivary gland carcinoma patients: differences in responses by different pathological diagnoses

Abstract

Background: A standard chemotherapy for recurrent/metastatic salivary gland cancers has not been established. Combination chemotherapy of carboplatin and paclitaxel should be evaluated as a treatment option.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed salivary gland cancer patients who received combination chemotherapy of carboplatin and paclitaxel. The differences in objective responses and in the prognoses according to the different pathological diagnoses were evaluated.

Results: A total of 38 patients were enrolled in the study; of them, 18 had salivary duct carcinomas (SDCs), nine had adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs), and 11 had other pathological diagnoses. Objective responses were observed in 15 (39%) patients. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.5 months, and the median overall survival (OS) was 26.5 months. ACC patients had relatively low response rates (9%), but there were no significant differences in PFS or OS compared to other sub-types. The treatment was well tolerated, with few adverse events.

Conclusion: Salivary gland cancer patients showed a moderate clinical response to the combination chemotherapy of carboplatin and paclitaxel. The objective response rates differed according to the pathological diagnoses, but there were no significant differences in prognoses.

Keywords:

• Salivary gland carcinoma
• chemotherapy
• paclitaxel
• carboplatin

Acknowledgments

We thank all of the staff members of the Departments of Head and Neck Surgery at the Cancer Institute Hospital of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research for diagnosing and treating the patients enrolled in this study.

Disclosure statement

Kenji Nakano has been a participant in advisory boards of GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.