Capecitabine Maintenance Therapy in Patients with Residual Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Single-Arm, Phase II Trial

Patients with residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma after receiving standard-of-care treatment have poor prognoses. In this trial, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of capecitabine maintenance therapy in patients with residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

This open-label, single-arm, phase II trial was conducted at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. We recruited patients of 18 to 70 years of age with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0 to 1, histopathologically or cytologically confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (without distant metastasis), who had residual disease after receiving definitive treatment. Patients received 1 year of capecitabine maintenance therapy. The primary endpoint was 2-year progression-free survival.

Between January 1, 2019, and December 30, 2022, 111 patients were recruited and commenced capecitabine maintenance therapy for 1 year. After a median follow-up duration of 34.8 months (IQR = 30.5-45.2), progression-free survival was 92% at 1 year, 86% at 2 years, and 81% at 3 years. Adverse events were reported in 97.3% of patients. Hand-foot syndrome was the most common adverse event (59.5%). In addition, 28.7% of patients experienced grade 3 treatment-related adverse events, the most common of which was hand-foot syndrome (7.2%); no grade 4 or 5 adverse events were recorded. A total of 72.1% of patients received the full dosage of capecitabine, and 76.6% of patients completed the 1-year capecitabine maintenance therapy.

The antitumor efficacy of capecitabine maintenance therapy is promising, and the safety profile is manageable in patients with residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma after receiving standard-of-care treatment.