Hi everyone!

I have a loved one who was diagnosed with SCC of the mandible. They completed a segmental mandibulectomy with fibula free flap reconstruction, to removed the tumor.

She is a 55 year old female, about 105 pounds.

It was a pT4N0M0 (stage 4a) 3.2cm by 2.3cm tumor with bone invasion. The surgeons were very happy with the outcomes of the procedure. Negative margins were obtained. All 35 lymph nodes tested were negative.

Because of bone invasion, adjuvant radiation was recommended. The plan is to complete 6 weeks of low-dose, targeted radiation.

I am here to get opinions on chemotherapy and whether or not anyone believes/ has opinions on its ability to enhance the radiation or not. Our loved one underwent a bone marrow transplant, due to leukemia, in 2006. She had full body radiation and chemotherapy with this. We are trying to determine now if chemotherapy will be beneficial or overall more of a risk given her past history and pathology results after surgery, as I stated above. The proposed chemotherapy was paclitaxel and carboplatin once a week for 6 weeks.

The medical oncologist explained that her case is a bit of a grey area, and that chemotherapy is really up to us. He explained that chemotherapy doesn’t guarantee it will not recur.

We are trying to decide if we do the chemotherapy now, or if it’s such a grey area and risks outweigh the benefits, do we cross the path of chemotherapy if there ever was a recurrence.

All help is appreciated!