title: Tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy predicts long-term survival outcomes in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A secondary analysis of a randomized phase 3 clinical trial.
abstract: Tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy using the regimen of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil could define high-risk patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the regimen of docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) appears to be more effective than the regimen of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil. Therefore, one needs to redefine the high-risk subpopulation of patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with TPF.
  
  
  
  A total of 231 patients from a randomized phase 3 trial with American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer stage III to stage IVB NPC (except T3-T4N0 disease) who were receiving treatment with the TPF regimen were enrolled. Patient survival rates between different groups were compared.
  
  
  
  Of the 231 patients, the overall response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was a complete response (CR) for 26 (11.3%), a partial response (PR) for 184 patients (79.6%), and stable disease (SD) for 21 patients (9.1%). Univariate analysis revealed the 3-year failure-free survival (FFS) rates in the CR (88.5% vs 61.9%; P =.017) and PR (81.2% vs 61.9%; P = .01) groups, and the 3-year overall survival rates for the CR (96.2% vs 76.2%; P =.048) and PR (93.4% vs 76.2%; P =.025) groups were obviously higher compared with that of the SD group. In multivariate analysis, CR was established as a favorable prognostic factor for FFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.210; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.057-0.779 [P =.02]), and PR for FFS (HR, 0.447; 95% CI, 0.213-0.936 [P =.033]) and OS (HR, 0.361; 95% CI, 0.132-0.986 [P =.047]) when compared with SD. No survival difference was observed between the CR and PR groups.
  
  
  
  Tumor response to TPF may be a properly powerful prognosis predictor and help to develop individualized treatment strategies for patients with locoregionally advanced NPC. Cancer 2017;123:1643-1652. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Fei
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Trials Center, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D043823:Taxoids; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil
keywords: and 5-fluorouracil (TPF); cisplatin; docetaxel; intensity-modulated radiotherapy; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; tumor response