Impact of three to four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on survival of patients with N2-N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the impact of three to four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on the survival of patients with N2-N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods The clinical data of 915 patients with T1-4N2-3M0 NPC from 2007 to 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.A total of 179 patients treated with 3-4 cycles of NACT (NACT≥3 group) were matched with 358 patients treated with 2 cycles of NACT (NACT=2 group) and 179 patients treated without NACT (NACT =0 group,concurrent chemoradiotherapy group) for age,N stage,pathological subtype,and NACT regimen.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS),disease-free survival (DFS),recurrence-free survival (RFS),and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates,the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis and univariate prognostic analysis,and the Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.Results For the NACT≥ 3,NACT =2,and NACT =0 groups,the 5-year OS rates were 89.4％,81.6％,and 73.7％,respectively (P=O.000),the 5-year DFS rates were 83.2％,69.8％,and 64.2％,respectively (P=O.000),the 5-year RFS rates were 86.0％,76.0％,and 69.3％,respectively (P=0.001),and the 5-year DMFS rates were 86.6％,76.0％,and 68.3％,respectively (P=0.000).Three to four cycles of NACT was an independent protective factor for OS,DFS,RFS,and DMFS in patients with N2-N3 NPC.Conclusion Three to four cycles of NACT can significantly improve the survival of patients with N2-N3 NPC.