title: Prognostic value of pretreatment and recovery duration of cranial nerve palsy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of cranial nerve (CN) palsy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis was performed on CN involvement using medical records of 178 consecutive patients with histologically diagnosed, non-disseminated NPC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 178 NPC patients with CN palsy, the 5-year survival rates were as follows: overall survival (OS), 61.0%; disease-specific survival (DSS), 69.6%; local relapse-free survival (LRFS), 75.2%; distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), 73.4%; and disease-free survival (DFS), 55.3%. Significant differences were observed in the 5-year OS rates between patients with single and multiple CN palsy (69.8% vs. 54.3%; P=0.033) and the OS rates between patients with different pretreatment durations (68.7% vs. 43.3%, P=0.007). However, no significant differences were observed in OS, DSS, LRFS and DFS rates between patients with upper and lower CN palsy (P=0.581, P=0.792, P=0.729 and P=0.212, respectively). The results showed that recovery duration was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR=2.485; P<0.001), DSS (HR=2.065; P=0.016), LRFS (HR=3.051; P=0.001) and DFS (HR=2.440; P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recovery duration is an independent prognostic factor for NPC patients with CN palsy and is related to recurrence, which leads to poor survival. Recovery duration requires close surveillance and different treatment regimens.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, No, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510060, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hao-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wen-Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yan-Xian
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hai-Qiang
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Mai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma; D003389:Cranial Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult