Comparison of continuous and split-course radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
From July 1977 through December 1980, a series of 1882 cases with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) had their first definitive radiotherapy course at our department, 1424 cases by continuous treatment regimen, and 458 cases by a split-course regimen. The interval of the split was 11-45 days, with an average of 28.6 days. Trials were non-randomized, but the treatment conditions for both groups were the same. The overall 5-year survival rate was 34.6%, 35.4% for the continuous group and 31.8% for the split-course group. The 5-year survival rate for Stage IV patients (squamous cell carcinoma Grade III) was 25.7% (69/268) for the continuous group and 14.1% (10/71) for the split-course group. Breaking down the cases by primary and cervical metastatic sites, for T3 cases, the 5-year local control rate for the primary site was 29.4% (133/451) for the continuous group, and 18.6% (22/118) for the split-course group. These differences are statistically significant (p less than 0.05). However, according to the data shown by this series, we can conclude that the split-course treatment regimen had no benefit over the continuous one when overall 5-year survival is considered.
Luo
R X
RX
Dept. of Radiotherapy, Hunan Tumor Hospital, Changsha, China.
Tang
Q X
QX
Huang
Y W
YW
Liao
Y P
YP
Mou
X D
XD
Hu
Z X
ZX
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage