title: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A study examining Asian patients treated in the United States.
abstract: From 1972 to 1991, 126 Asian patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma underwent definitive radiation therapy for locoregional disease: 86 men, 40 women. Median age was 50. All patients received external-beam irradiation with cobalt 60 or 4-18 MV x-rays. Local recurrence, regional recurrence, and distant metastases were 22%, 11%, and 23%, respectively. Local recurrence progressively increased with increasing T stage, but doses in those who recurred did not differ from the group as a whole. Regional recurrence was not associated with T or N stage or dose. Patients with N2 disease had the highest distant metastatic rate. The 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 54% and 38%, respectively. Of age, gender, and histology, only age less than 50 was found to be favorably prognostic. No severe long-term complications were observed, and acute reactions were acceptable. Our survival results are comparable with results found both in Asia and North America. Nonetheless, altered fractionation techniques and/or other radiation modalities should be further explored to improve locoregional control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Therapy, St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Louie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heltzel
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Karp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents