Let�s all keep in mind that the chemo portion of the treatment is a small boost to the primary treatment which is the radiation.

I have heard all kinds of numbers regarding how much chemo will add to the long term survivability after treatments. Some are as high as 10% and others as low as 0%. In my mind I settled on 5% additional punch when adding chemo.

I have had three radiation rounds.
One with Radiation only
The next with radiation, Carboplatin and taxol (sp.?)
The third with Erbitux.

So I think I have tried all of the approaches.
The first time we did radiation (IMRT) only to the primary tumor on the soft palet. This worked and the primary tumor never returned. I did get a recurrence in a Lymph node which I think is a place where a few cancer cells got loose from the primary and eventually grew to critical mass.

The second time (Lymph Node) I did the radiation (IMRT) along with the Carbo and Taxol. The treatment got about 98% of the tumor but left a small pea sized portion along with residual disease (which looked on the PET scan like someone sprinkled cancer cells throughout the tumor).

The third time I went with Cyberknife radiation and Erbitux. With Erbitux the first hurdle is weather it has any effect or not. Some people get no benefit from it so they boost the radiation by 0%. I got a small case of Acne which they said was good and showed that the Erbitux was having some effect. I chalked this up to a 5% boost to radiation and my RO said that was just about right, although it could be higher or lower, Doctor speak for "we have no clue". The first PET scan after that treatment showed no disease.

I think the point I am trying to make is that I never really sweated the chemo side. It has the potential to boost the effectiveness of the radiation but not by a huge amount. I felt it was important but not a game changer as far as my biggest concerns which were more about types of radiation and or surgical options.