[Arterial chemoembolization in the combined treatment of malignant tumors of the tongue and maxilla: preliminary results].

: The authors made a clinical evaluation of the efficiency of regional bolus chemotherapy and embolization as a stage of combined therapy in patients with inoperable cancer of the tongue and maxilla complicated by bleeding episodes. Carotid angiography by attempting to make chemoembolization was performed in 15 patients. The procedure could not be done in full in 2 (13%) patients due to transient vascular and neurological disorders. The remaining 13 (87%) patients had successful chemoembolization of tumor-supplying arteries with 5-fluorouracil (700 mg/m2) and methotrexate (40 mg/m2) in combination with finely cut hemostatic sponge and fragments of metallic spirals (n = 12) or regional bolus injection of a cytostatic (n = 1) without arterial occlusion. After embolization, bleeding episodes ceased in all the patients. Full (n = 1) and partial (n = 6) responses to treatment or stabilization of the process (n = 5) were noted in 12 (92%) cases, progression was only in 1 (8%) case. The study suggests that chemoembolization of the branches of the external carotid artery in patients with cancer of the tongue and maxilla contributes to the arrest of chronic tumorous bleeding and to the reduction in the risk for acute A combination of systemic multidrug therapy, radiation therapy, and chemoembolization stabilizes a tumorous process in most patients.