title: [Statistical analysis of 32 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma].
abstract: In order to assess the clinical outcome and prognostic factors of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) who were initially treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine between 1997 and 2006, statistical analyses were performed based on the patient medical records. Cause-specific survival (CSS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in all cases (stage I to IV, n = 32) and advanced cases (stage III and IV, n = 22) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The independent prognostic values of the clinical and therapeutic factors were determined using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 5-year CSS/DFS were 43.4%/34.8% in all cases and 34.5%/29.8% in advanced cases. Multivariate analysis revealed that, in all cases, the independent prognostic factors for CSS were age (> or = 61 vs. < or = 60, risk ratio (RR) = 5.717, p = 0.006), T-stage (3/4 vs. 1/2, RR = 6.957, p = 0.004), and the use of platinum agents (unused vs. used, RR = 3.911, p = 0.012), whereas those for DFS were T-stage (3/4 vs. 1/2, RR = 3.499, p = 0.019) and the use of platinum agents (unused vs. used, RR = 2.947, p = 0.028). In advanced cases, the use of platinum agents alone was significant for both CSS (RR = 4.503, p = 0.023) and DFS (RR = 4.218, p = 0.014). The patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) showed better CSS and DFS than the patients who did not (p = 0.066 and p = 0.025, respectively) in a univariate analysis (Log-rank test), although no significant difference was seen between these groups in the multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The advantage of the administration of platinum agents in the treatment of NPC was statistically corroborated even in our study with its small sample size. As agents combined with chemoradiotherapy, the efficacy of docetaxel alone did not seem comparable to that of platinum agents. The docetaxel-CDDP-5-FU regimen applied as NAC was suggested to be possibly beneficial for advanced cases of NPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Yorihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imanishi
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shigetomi
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Habu
authors.forename: Kuninori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ootsuka
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shigematsu
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models
chemical_list: D002945:Cisplatin