The Management of rNPC: Salvage Surgery vs. Re-irradiation

Treatment failure, in the form of either persistence or local recurrence, occurs in 10 to 30% of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after initial radiotherapy (RT). Early detection of persistent or recurrent disease aids in the recognition of tumors that can be candidates for salvage nasophayngectomy or re-irradiation. There is no consensus till now on the indications or selection of the above two salvage treatment.

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift from open to endoscopic approach for nasopharyngectomy, which carries nearly no complications. For salvage re-irradiation, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is the most commonly indicated modality. Compared to IMRT, salvage endoscopic nasopharyngectomy may be more beneficial in terms of prolonging survival, improving quality of life, and minimizing treatment-related complications and medical costs in a selected subset of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) patients. Salvage nasopharyngectomy should be the mainstay of treatment for rNPC.