Potential factors associated with clinical stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at diagnosis: a case-control study

In China, most patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are diagnosed at a late stage and consequently have a poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate potential factors associated with the clinical stage of NPC at diagnosis.

Data were obtained from 118 patients with early-stage NPC and 274 with late-stage NPC who were treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between August 2014 and July 2015. Patients were individually matched by age, sex, and residence, and a conditional logistic regression model was applied to assess the associations of clinical stage at diagnosis with socioeconomic status indicators, knowledge of NPC, physical examinations, patient interval, and risk factors for NPC.

Although knowledge of early NPC symptoms, smoking cessation, and patient interval were important factors, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, motorbike ownership, and physical examination exhibited the strongest associations with the clinical stage of NPC at diagnosis. Compared with smoking fewer than ten cigarettes a day, smoking 10-30 cigarettes [odds ratio (OR) 4.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-14.68] or more than 30 cigarettes (OR 11.46; 95% CI 1.26-103.91) was associated with an increased risk of late diagnosis. Compared with not owning a motorbike, owning a motorbike (OR 0.38; 95% CI 0.23-0.64) was associated with early diagnosis. Subjects who underwent physical examinations were less likely to receive a late diagnosis than those who did not undergo examinations (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.28-0.89). However, indicators of wealth were not significant factors.

Initiatives to improve NPC patient prognosis should aim to promote knowledge about early symptoms and detection, health awareness, and accessibility to health facilities among all patients, regardless of socioeconomic status.