During the period from 1968 through 1984, 197 patients with advanced carcinomas of the oral cavity have been irradiated. The authors investigate the influence of a standardized chemotherapy as initial therapy measure on the subsequent radiotherapy and the therapy results. Whereas 4.2% of patients were submitted to this treatment between 1968 and 1975, 64.5% of patients received a chemotherapy during 1976 and 1984. The remission rate following to cytostatic therapy was 71%; most of them were partial remissions. The influence of chemotherapy manifested itself by an increase of macroscopically radical tumor resections, especially in stage IV, but also by an increased number of radiotherapy interruptions in case of strong mucosal reactions. An increase of the median survival time from 20 to 30.5 months was connected with the intensified therapy. Further on, this difference vanished, and the five-year survival rates were identical.