Objective To evaluate the
clinical efficacy and
safety of the hypofractionated
three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy in the
treatment of recurrent
nasopharyngeal carcinoma .
Methods Clinical data of 153
patients with recurrent
nasopharyngeal carcinoma admitted to our
hospital from 2008 to 2013 undergoing hypofractionated
three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3 Gy for each
time ,5 times a week,a total
dose of 51-60 Gy,17-20 times/4 weeks) were retrospectively analyzed.The short-and long-term
radiation -induced
injury ,Karnofsky performance score (KPS),short-and long-term
clinical efficacy were evaluated.Results For the short-term
radiation -induced
injury ,the
incidence of
oral mucosa and
fatigue significantly differed before and
after treatment (both P<0.05).Regarding the long-term
radiation -induced
injury ,the
incidence of dry
mouth (95.4%) and
deafness (51.0%),difficulty in opening
mouth (79.1%),maxillofacial
fibrosis (33.3%) and
radiation -induced
encephalopathy (15.0%) significantly differed before and following
treatment (all P< 0.05).The actual long-term
radiation -induced
injury included dry
mouth (91.5%),
deafness (50.9%),difficulty in opening
mouth (76.5%),maxillofacial
fibrosis (32.0%) and
radiation -induced
encephalopathy (14.4%).The number of
patients with changes in the KPS scores significantly differed between the end of
treatment and 3 months
after treatment (P<0.05).The local control rates were 29.4%,68.6%,79.1%,83.7% and 86.9% at 1-,3-,6-,9-and 12-month after corresponding
treatment ,respectively.The local control rate significantly differed between 1 and 3 months,and between 3 and 6 months
after treatment (both P<0.05).The 1-,2-,3-,4-and 5-year
survival rates were calculated as 96.1%,80.4%,68.5%,57.9% and 51.1%,respectively.Conclusions Hypofractionated
three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy is an efficacious and safe
treatment of recurrent nasopharyngeal
nasopharyngeal carcinoma ,which yields relatively high short-and long-term
clinical efficacy ,high local control rate and well tolerance by the
patients .