Preclinically, paclitaxel and docetaxel have demonstrated activity against salivary gland cancers1. Phase II trial of single-agent paclitaxel2, conducted by Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group in 45 patients with advanced SGC. Eight partial responses were observed among the 31 patients with mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) or adenocarcinoma, but no responses were identified in the 14 patients with ACC. Based on its impressive anti-tumor activity in patients with head and neck cancer, especially in squamous cell carcinoma, Ragusa et al.3 evaluated the activity of docetaxel in 4 patients with high grade MEC of the major salivary glands. The treatment was well tolerated, and there was complete response in two and partial response in the other two patients.~However, myelosuppression is one of the serious concerns with every 3 week schedule of docetaxel administration, especially in older patients. Alternatively, a weekly dosing of docetaxel has been reported to reduce toxicity and Investigator previously reported weekly docetaxel and cisplatin chemotherapy in recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer demonstrated high response rate with modest toxicities4. So Investigator planned this phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cisplatin plus weekly docetaxel in patients with metastatic salivary gland cancer.
Cisplatin plus weekly docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy in metastatic salivary gland cancer patients : a multicenter phase II study