title: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Turkish children: review of 33 cases.
abstract: A retrospective and prospective analysis is reported of epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of 33 children with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated in a single institution over a period of 10 years. Twenty-three male and 10 female children ranging from 9 to 17 years were referred to our center. Histopathology was WHO type 3 carcinoma in 21, WHO type 2 in 8, WHO type 1 in 1, and unclassified in 3 patients. Disease extent was T2a (n = 15), T2b (n = 2), T3 (n = 11), and T4 (n = 5); N1 (n = 5), N2 (n = 12), and N3a (n = 16). Five patients had base of skull invasion. Four patients had M1 disease on admission. Four patients were treated with irradiation only. Three patients received neoadjuvant, 4 patients received adjuvant, and 22 patients received neoadjuvant + adjuvant chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy. Patients received 50-72 Gy to the primary tumor and involved nodes and 45-50 Gy to uninvolved regions. Chemotherapy consisted of combinations of cisplatin, fluorouracil or Adriamycin, vincristine, and cyclophosphamide. Twenty-nine patients (88%) attained locoregional control. Overall, 10 patients died with progressive disease or infectious complications, and 2 patients are still receiving therapy. Three patients are still living with multiple metastases and stable disease. Eight patients were lost to follow-up. Twelve patients are alive without relapse 3 and 63 months from diagnosis. Seven patients had 6 relapses at distant and 1 relapse at local site. The median time for first relapse was 8 months. Overall, the 5-year survival rate was 63% and disease-free survival rate was 53%. Although the locoregional control rate is high, long-term survival rates will be the real test of the impact of chemotherapy. Further studies are needed to confirm the optimal combination of effective chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Oncology Hospital, Department of Pediatric Oncology, Demetevler, Ankara, Turkey. aohc@ato.org.tr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berberoğlu
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ilhan
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cetindağ
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sunter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology