Onkológia 2/2008

TARGETED THERAPY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCERS – A CASE STORY

A case report of a stage III tongue cancer is presented. Due to co-morbidity, the 52-year-old patient was not eligible for radical surgery, therefore he underwent concomitant chemo-radiotherapy (CHT/RT). This therapy resulted in the partial respons (PR). The PR lasted over a period of 4 months. A second progression was treated by palliative CHT whose effect diminished after 4 months. Cetuximab as salvage CHT resulted in PR, while a second-look surgery 4 months later, after the termination of 3 cycles of treatment, did not reveal any tumor infiltration. Clinically, and on the basis of imaging methods, the patient has been in stable condition without symptoms of progression for 21 months.

Keywords: head and neck tumors, drug therapy, epidermoid carcinoma, cetuximab, case reports (publication type)