Ten years disease-free survival of stage III squamous cell carcinoma of pyriform fossa in an elderly patient with comorbidities achieved with multimodal Ayurvedic intervention along with conventional cancer treatment: A case report

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the pyriform fossa accounts for almost 70% of all hypopharyngeal cancers. Usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, it has a poor prognosis with a 5-year overall survival of 30%–35%. We report a case of a 70-year-old male patient diagnosed with Stage III SCC, right pyriform fossa in January 2004 and planned for radiotherapy. He opted for Ayurvedic treatment before starting radiotherapy in February 2004 with a motive to minimize the side effects of radiation. Afterward, he underwent a radical course of 30 fractions of external beam radiotherapy from March 2004 to April 2004. He tolerated the radiotherapy without any remarkable side effects. Post-radiation computed tomography scan in June 2004 showed a significant decrease in the lesion size. He continued Ayurvedic treatment till 2014, and there has been no metastasis or recurrence since April 2004. He was under treatment for cardiorespiratory failure from 2006 to 2014. The patient expired in 2014 due to cardiac arrest, but the disease-free survival in this elderly patient for 10 years with a good quality of life was achieved due to the aptly selected Ayurvedic treatment, viz., Shamana (pacification) and Rasayana (rejuvenation).