Effective eradication of oral verrucous carcinoma with continuous intraarterial infusion chemotherapy.

Abstract

We evaluated the effectiveness of intraarterial methotrexate infusion as a primary therapy for oral verrucous carcinoma (VC). Fifteen male patients (mean age, 55 years) were included. By using an implantable port-catheter system and a portable pump, methotrexate was continuously infused to the external carotid artery for a mean period of 7.5 days (50 mg/day), followed by weekly bolus of methotrexate (25 mg) via intraarterial route for a mean period of 10 weeks. The tumor regressed dramatically and disappeared completely after treatment within a mean period of 2.5 months. All patients obtained complete remission and recovered without disfigurement. All patients were alive without disease recurrence at a median follow-up of 43 months. The side effects were tolerable. The results of our treatment modality for oral VC appear to compete favorably with the results of surgical series and even more with those of radiotherapy series.