Prognostic factors affecting the outcome of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The aim of the study is to evaluate patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with multisegmental intensity-modulated radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy and analyze patient, tumor and treatment characteristics, determining outcome.

From June 1999 through to April 2003, we treated in our institution 83 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 70 males and 13 females, their ages ranging from 25 to 85 years (median, 48 years). Nineteen patients had T1 tumors, 35 had T2 tumors, six had T3 tumors and 23 had T4 tumors. Sixty-four patients had cervical lymph node metastasis. Twenty patients were treated with radiation therapy alone and 63 patients with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Cumulative radiation dose to primary tumor ranged from 70.2 to 77.4 Gy (median, 75.6 Gy). Follow-up ranged from 3 to 41.53 months (median, 17 months).

Local complete response was achieved in 81 patients (97.5%). Local failure was observed in two patients, nodal failure in one patient and systemic failure in 14 patients. Overall survival, disease-free survival and disease-specific survival were 83, 84 and 93%, respectively, at 1 year, 82, 74 and 88%, respectively, at 2 years and 82, 61 and 88%, respectively, at 3 years. In univariate analysis, T stage of disease was a significant predictor of disease-free survival favoring those with early-stage (T1 + T2) disease (P = 0.040). Cumulative radiation dose to primary tumor was a significant predictor of disease-specific survival favoring those with >75.6 Gy (P = 0.010). Stage of disease (P = 0.007), N-classification (P = 0.046) and cumulative dose to primary tumor (P = 0.046) were significant prognostic factors for overall survival.

High locoregional control for nasopharyngeal carcinoma was achieved with multisegmental intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Distant metastases are still the main impact on survival. More effective chemotherapy regimens and other systemic agents are needed to decrease the rate of distant metastasis.