Hasegawa H, Kaneko T, Kanno C, et al. - Researchers examined 141 patients with stage II-IV oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) for survival following treatment with preoperative intra-arterial chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and peplomycin combined with intravenous chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil (IADCPIVF) via the superficial temporal artery. Further, they sought to determine the prognostic factors. Fifty-nine patients with stage II OSCC, 34 with stage III, and 48 with stage IV comprised the study population. After IADCPIVF, surgery was performed on 139 patients; 96 patients with a remarkably good response to IADCPIVF underwent minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) including excisional biopsy. The primary tumor response rate of 99.3% was reported (complete response rate 56.7%, good partial response rate 17.0%, fair partial response rate 25.5%). Furthermore, no serious adverse events associated with IADCPIVF were recognized. They identified the 5-year overall survival rate of 74.6% (stage II 83.6%, stage III 72.7%, stage IV 64.8%). The multivariate analysis of survival suggested the significant prognostic value of T classification and clinical tumor response. Findings thus support the safety of providing IADCPIVF as well as its efficacy for treating OSCC. In the case of a remarkably good response, MIS could decrease the extent of primary tumor resection.