title: Advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the young: The Northern Israel Oncology Center experience, 1973-1991.
abstract: Between 1973 and 1991, 10 patients with locally advanced [stages III and IV] nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated at the Northern Israel Oncology Center. All patients were treated with wide-field irradiation to the primary tumor, including the base of skull, neck, and supraclavicular region. After 1984, 6 patients also received cisplatin/5FU-based chemotherapy prior to radiotherapy and 1 patient received it after radiotherapy. All the patients who received chemotherapy are alive with no evidence of disease, for a mean disease-free survival of 96 months (range, 77 to 108 months), and no serious therapy-related late side-effects have been noted, except in one patient. We conclude that adjuvant chemotherapy may be effective in improving outcome, but only randomized prospective studies can evaluate its exact role.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Northern Israel Oncology Center, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Arush
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lavie
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuten
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors