A new staging system for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in China.
OBJECTIVE
An accurate and rational nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) stage based on images is proposed.


METHODS
Four hundred and twenty-one cases of NPC, treated in the Cancer Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), with computed tomography scanning before initial radiotherapy, are analyzed. Important prognostic factors that form the basis of the new staging system are screened out by means of Cox model and clinical experiences. Survival curves of various kinds of T and N stages are compared by computer simulation. A new staging system is proposed by studying the traditional staging systems such as the AJC, UICC, Ho's and Changsha systems.


RESULTS
According to the new staging criteria, the 5-year survival rates for Stages I-IV are 89.7%, 75.9%, 51.3%, and 22.2%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
This new clinical staging for NPC based on a large amount of cases multivariate analysis is satisfactory and widely used in China.
Department of NPC, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
H
H
Min
M
M
Hong
J
J
Ma
E
E
Zhang
Q
Q
Zheng
J
J
Zhang
J
J
Zhang
F
F
Zhang
Y
Y
Su
F
F
Qiu
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods; D015996:Survival Rate
D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes