title: Inherently poor survival of elderly patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to determine the features of the elderly patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 212 patients with NPC, aged ≥65 years, and receiving radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Comorbidity was rated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four patients (11.3%) scored ≥3 and 188 patients (88.7%) scored <3 rated by CCI. The median actuarial irradiated dose of the nasopharynx was 72 Gy (range, 20-94 Gy) with 87.3% patients receiving >70 Gy. One hundred fifty-four patients had stage III/IV disease. The actuarial local control, cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates at 5 years were 68.8%, 63.5%, and 47.0%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, stage (hazard ratio [HR], 1.489; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.168-1.897; p = .001), the technique of radiotherapy (HR, 0.674; 95% CI, 0.476-0.953; p = .025), and anemia (HR, 3.081; 95% CI, 1.624-5.845; p = .001) were independent prognostic factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The elderly patients with NPC may inherently predict poor outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun-Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guo-Zhen
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Su-Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shi-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis
keywords: comorbidity; elderly; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; prognosis; radiotherapy