Hi Leslie,

I saw this article online, and briefly read though it, no surprises I thought, but glad you posted it, so I could read it further. It appears he also had surgery, maybe robotic, needed a nasal tube for four days, which surgery sounds like to the primary BOT tumor, and possible removal of the cancerous lymph node, which were found to be negative of cancer, and tumor margins clear, so he had a complete response to the Induction Chemo.

I had high dose TPF Induction Chemo only in 2009, and only 5 days, not by choice, but due to the severity of side effects, actually near death, and could not complete the two scheduled IC, nor the curative chemoradiation. 8 months after my 6 month hospitalization from such, my PET/CT showed no suspicions, so I received no further treatment, and declared NED, but a month later I had an enlarged lymph node, and testing, biopsy, showed two lymph nodes were cancerous, and so my persistent cancer kept returning 6 more times in four years, but the tonsil cancer never returned, and was biopsied.

I read extensively about my tonsil cancer, including Induction Chemo, which is probably 35 years old. IC worked so well in preservation for laryngeal cancer, I believe with studies from the VA, originally with Cisplatin and 5-FU (PF) that they moved onto the oropharynx, and added the Taxoetere, to TPF, which was found to have less side effects, and so there was a period when it was used as neo-adjunct chemo before chemoradiation, as an alternative to surgery, but it wasn't witjout controversyl due to the high rate of toxic effects. I read studies where the death rate was around 2% and one even 5%, but the thing is IC works well to reduce the tumor, sometimes completely, but without further treatment I read it will mostly likely return within the year, and so did mine. IC seemed to go out of favor for a while, was not recommended, but then returned, and see it again with other chemo, monoclonal antibody variants, but a recent article said IC offered no overall survival benefit, and such can delay curative treatment or completely, as was my case. Donfoo here had a different experience with IC than mine, and went on to complete Chemoradiation.

I read briefly years ago, about chemo being studied to treat head and neck cancer, what type I don't recall, maybe it was IC, but sticks in my mind. I do have many articles for IC, and there is a medical book called Induction Chemo: Integrated Treatment Programs for Locally Advanced Cancer.

Good topic, as I know some may be inquiring.