Symptoms and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 中国医学科学院学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between the symptoms and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 905 M0 NPC patients who received radical radiotherapy from January 1990 to May 1999 were retrospectively studied. Nodal distribution, cranial nerve paralysis, as well as the relationship between symptom duration and prognosis were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The most common symptom in patients with NPC is neck node metastasis, with an incidence of 40.0% at the time of diagnosis, followed by blood-staining sputum (18.7%) and aural symptoms (17.0%). Node metastasis in the lower neck and supraclavicular region alone was seen in 10 patients (1.1%). Cranial nerve paralysis was found in 179 patients (19.8%). The 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival were significant lower in symptom duration more than 6 months group than in less than 6 months group (71.2% vs 79.8%, P = 0.008 and 51.9% vs 63.6%, P = 0.0008); however, the local control rate between these two group was not significantly different (79.4% vs 83.5%, P = 0.138).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The symptom duration is associated with the prognosis of NPC. Early diagnosis and treatment are the most important factors in improving the prognosis of NPC.</p>