Role of Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy in Tongue Preservation in Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Oral Tongue

Patients enrolled for the study, who are eligible for Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, will undergo a pre-treatment workup comprising of Evaluation Under Anesthesia (EUA) for tumor Mapping and tissue biopsy along with a PET-CT scan. Subsequently, they would undergo 3 cycles of Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (weekly thrice) with injection Docetaxel, Cisplatin, and 5-FU. They would be reassessed with PET-CT and EUA +/- biopsy after the end of the third cycle. Those who are achieving a Complete Response (CR) would undergo adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy. Subjects who have a partial response (PR) in the PET-CT scan will be re-classified based on the biopsy report. If they remain in the PR group they will undergo surgery. If the biopsy in these patients is negative for malignancy, they will undergo adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Those subjects with stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD) would undergo surgery. Subsequently, further radiation and/ or chemotherapy will be decided based on the final histopathology (of the surgical specimen) reports. PET-CT and EUA +/- HPE analyses would be repeated on follow-up after 3 months of treatment completion.