Prognostic value of CYFRA 21-1 and CEA in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma before and after radiotherapy / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of CYFRA 21-1 (CYFRA) and CEA as a prognostic marker in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From March 2004 to February 2008, 62 patients with newly diagnosed, undifferentiated NPC were treated in our department. Their clinocopathological data were analyzed retrospectively. All patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy using 6 MV X-rays, and serum CYFRA and CEA before and after radiotherapy were assayed. The association among the long-term follow-up results and age, sex, smoke, TNM stage, chemotherapy, CEA, CYFRA and the changes in any direction of serum CYFRA and CEA were determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients with low pre-RT level (≤ 2.49 µg/L) of CYFRA had a significantly better overall survival (OS) than patients with high level (> 2.49 µg/L,OR = 8.555, P = 0.029). N classification and T classification were positively associated with the prediction of progression free survival (OR = 4.054, P = 0.001;OR = 3.873, P = 0.001). But there was no significant association between the rest predictors (age, sex, CEA, post-RT CYFRA, chemotherapy and a radiation-induced decrease in serum markers) and the survival or recurrence rate by multivariate analysis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The results of the present study show that pre-RT serum CYFRA level is a valuable factor for predicting long-term survival in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma. More aggressive treatment may be given to those patients with a high serum CYFRA level.</p>