Current and emerging treatment options for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: In this article, we focus on the current and emerging treatments in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). A detailed evolution of the current standard of care, and new techniques and treatment options will be reviewed. Intergroup 0099 established the role for chemoradiotherapy (chemo-RT) in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Multiple randomized Phase III trials have shown the benefit of chemo-RT; however, none of these studies utilized modern radiotherapy (RT) techniques of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). IMRT has the ability to deliver high doses of radiation to the target structures while sparing adjacent bystander healthy tissues, and has now become the preferred RT treatment modality. Chemotherapy also has had a shifting paradigm of induction and/or adjuvant chemotherapy c

SUBMITTER: Spratt DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3484899 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature