Forget me not – Incorporating standard chemotherapy in an exciting era of clinical trials

• Published in: Oral oncology Vol. 116; p. 105160
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Alexis, Nagasaka, Misako
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2021
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Carboplatin; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms - drug therapy; Humans; Metastatic oropharyngeal cancer; Paclitaxel; Platinum; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - drug therapy; Taxanes; Taxanes; Platinum; Metastatic oropharyngeal cancer
• ISSN: 1368-8375; 1879-0593
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.105160

We here present an unusual case in which a patient with metastatic HNSCC was enrolled in a number of clinical trials, but was never exposed to platinum or taxane therapy, who fortunately continues to show response after carboplatin and paclitaxel, given to her as her 6th line of therapy for metastatic disease. While some non-chemotherapy based clinical trials may appear attractive to both the clinicians and the patients, and although it may be tempting to offer exciting trials when the patient “meets the eligibility criteria”, in some cases, it may be beneficial to go back and re-consider standard chemotherapy.