Prognostic impact of adjuvant chemotherapy in high-risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients

Publication date: January 2017
Source:Oral Oncology, Volume 64
Author(s): Yi-Chun Liu, Wen-Yi Wang, Chih-Wen Twu, Rong-San Jiang, Kai-Li Liang, Ching-Te Wu, Po-Ju Lin, Jing-Wen Huang, He-Yuan Hsieh, Jin-Ching Lin
ObjectivesTo investigate the prognostic impact of adjuvant chemotherapy (AdjCT) in patients with high-risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Materials and methodsA total 403 NPC patients with at least one of the following criteria (1) neck node>6cm; (2) supraclavicular node metastasis; (3) skull base destruction/intracranial invasion plus multiple nodes metastasis; or (4) multiple neck nodes metastasis with one of nodal size>4cm were retrospectively reviewed. All patients finished curative radiotherapy±neoadjuvant/concurrent chemotherapy. Post-radiation AdjCT consisted of tegafur-uracil (two capsules twice daily) for 12months. We analyzed the treatment outcome between patients with (n=154) and without (n=249) AdjCT.ResultsBaseline patient characteristics at diagnosis (age, gender, pathological type, performance status, T-classification, N-classification, and overall stage) were comparable in both arms. After a median follow-up of 72months for surviving patients, 31.8% (49/154) and 42.2% (105/249) in patients with and without AdjCT developed tumor relapse respectively (P=0.0377). AdjCT improved both overall survival (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.37–2.61, P=0.0001) and progression-free survival (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.03–1.96, P=0.0322). There were significant reduction in distant failures (P=0.0016) but not in local (P=0.8587) or regional (P=0.8997) recurrences for patients who received AdjCT.ConclusionAdjCT can reduce distant failure and improve overall survival in high-risk NPC patients after curative radiotherapy±neoadjuvant/concurrent chemotherapy.



http://ift.tt/2gC9Qpg