Intensity-modulated radiotherapy provides better quality of life than two-dimensional conventional radiotherapy for patients with stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
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ABSTRACT: Two-dimensional conventional radiotherapy (2D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) are effective for control of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of life (QoL) of stage II NPC patients treated with 2D-CRT versus IMRT. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 106 patients with stage II NPC treated with 2D-CRT (n = 47) versus IMRT (n = 59) between June 2008 and June 2013. For all subjects, disease-free survival was more than 3 years. QoL was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) questions and the Head and Neck 35 (EORTC QLQ-H&N35) questions. Patients receiving IMRT with or without concurrent chemotherapy had better outcomes in head and neck related symptoms and general aspects of QoL than those receiving 2D-CRT with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Thus, IMRT improves the QoL of patients with stage II NPC as compared to 2D-CRT.
Project description:BackgroundThe National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) as the primary curative treatment for newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the radiation-related complications and relatively high medical costs remain a consequential burden for the patients. Endoscopic nasopharyngectomy (ENPG) was successfully applied in recurrent NPC with radiation free and relatively low medical costs. In this study, we examined whether ENPG could be an effective treatment for localized stage I NPC.MethodsTen newly diagnosed localized stage I NPC patients voluntarily received ENPG alone from June 2007 to September 2017 in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Simultaneously, the data of 329 stage I NPC patients treated with IMRT were collected and used as a reference cohort. The survival outcomes, quality of life (QOL), and medical costs between two groups were compared.ResultsAfter a median follow-up of 59.0 months (95% CI 53.4-64.6), no death, locoregional recurrence, or distant metastasis was observed in the 10 patients treated with ENPG. The 5-year overall survival, local relapse-free survival, regional relapse-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival among the ENPG-treated patients was similar to that among the IMRT-treated patients (100% vs. 99.1%, 100% vs. 97.7%, 100% vs. 99.0%, 100% vs. 97.4%, respectively, P > 0.05). In addition, compared with IMRT, ENPG was associated with decreased total medical costs ($ 4090.42 ± 1502.65 vs. $ 12620.88 ± 4242.65, P < 0.001) and improved QOL scores including dry mouth (3.3 ± 10.5 vs. 34.4 ± 25.8, P < 0.001) and sticky saliva (3.3 ± 10.5 vs. 32.6 ± 23.3, P < 0.001).ConclusionsENPG alone was associated with promising long-term survival outcomes, low medical costs, and satisfactory QOL and might therefore be an alternative strategy for treating newly diagnosed localized stage I NPC patients who refused radiotherapy. However, the application of ENPG should be prudent, and prospective clinical trials were needed to further verify the results.
Project description:Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an endemic disease with a high prevalence in Southeast Asia, Mediterranean countries, and Northern Africa. With substantial advances in screening and diagnosis, increasingly more early-stage (stage I~II) patients are being diagnosed. The undebated treatment modality for stage I patients is radiotherapy alone. However, controversies exist for patients with stage II disease, mostly revolving around the management of chemotherapy. However, the use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma has increased recently, which has drastically improved survival outcomes. Thus, many oncologists have considered omitting chemotherapy for stage II patients in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy era. Unfortunately, prospective studies comparing concurrent radio-chemotherapy with intensity-modulated radiotherapy alone are limited. Notably, stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma consists of three subgroups, among which stage T2N1M0 disease is unique and potentially warrants additional treatment including chemotherapy. Additionally, molecular biology techniques are advancing at an incredible speed. Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all recommendation, exploring potential predictive biomarkers to select patients who are likely to derive benefit from chemotherapy is a better choice. In this review, we summarize the data from studies and reviews regarding chemotherapy for stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy era and discuss chemotherapy utility. Eventually, we conclude that IMRT alone may be sufficient for stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but this needs to be verified by prospective studies in the near future, the evidence collected thus far suggests that concurrent chemo-radiotherapy without induction or adjuvant chemotherapy is yet to be necessary for patients with stage II disease.
Project description:Quality of life (QoL) attained before, during, or after treatments is recognized as a vital factor associated with therapeutic benefits in cancer patients. This nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patient longitudinal study assessed the relationship among QoL, cancer stage, and long-term mortality in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core QoL questionnaire (QLQ-C30) and the head and neck cancer-specific QoL questionnaire module (QLQ-HN35) were employed to evaluate four-dimensional QoL outcomes at five time points: pre- (n = 682), during (around 40 Gy) (n = 675), 3 months (n = 640), 1 year (n = 578) and 2 years post-IMRT (n = 505), respectively, for 682 newly diagnosed NPC patients treated between 2003 and 2017 at a single institute. The median followed-up time was 7.5 years, ranging from 0.3 to 16.1 years. Generalized estimating equations, multivariable proportional hazards models, and Baron and Kenny's method were used to assess the investigated effects. Advanced AJCC stage (III-IV) patients revealed a 2.26-fold (95% CI-1.56 to 3.27) higher covariate-adjusted mortality risk than early-stage (I-II) patients. Compared with during IMRT, advanced-stage patients had a significantly low global health QoL and a significantly high QoL-HN35 symptom by a large magnitude at pre-, 3 months, and 2 years post-IMRT. QoL scales at pre-IMRT, 1 year, and 2 years post-IMRT were significantly associated with mortality. The effect changes of mortality risk explained by global health QoL, QoL-C30, and QoL-HN35 symptom were 5.8-9.8% at pre-IMRT but at 2 years post-IMRT were 39.4-49.4% by global health QoL and QoL-HN35 symptoms. We concluded advanced cancer stage correlates with a long-term high mortality in NPC patients treated with IMRT and the association is partially intermediated by QoL at pre-IMRT and 2 years post-IMRT. Therefore, QoL-HN35 symptom and global health QoL-dependent medical support and care should be focused and tailored at 2 years post-IMRT.
Project description:The present study aimed to retrospectively analyze the survival outcomes and prognostic factors for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).Clinical data was collected from 691 patients with NPC receiving IMRT from January 2009 to August 2015. A survival analysis was performed and prognostic factors were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, the Cox proportional hazards regression model, and the log-rank test.The median follow-up time was 62.8 months. Sixty-three patients experienced relapse, 44 cases (70%) of which occurred within 3 years. Six cases (9.5%) remained in remission for over 5 years. Seventy-two patients developed metastasis, 63 cases (87.5%) of which occurred within 3 years and only 1 case occurred after 5 years (1.3%). Five-year disease special survival (DSS), progression free survival, locoregional recurrence free survival, and distant metastasis free survival were 86.5%, 82.5%, 90.7%, and 89.4%, respectively in patients with NPC. Patients with stage III NPC with and without induction chemotherapy had 5-year DSS rates of 95.8% and 89.3%, respectively (P = .00). Patients with stage IVa NPC with and without induction chemotherapy had 5-year DSS rates of 73.1% and 68.9%, respectively (P = .04). The 5-year DSS rates of patients with stage III with or without concurrent chemotherapy were 92.8% and 85.5%, respectively (P = .04). The 5-year DSS rates of patients with stage IV with or without concurrent chemotherapy were 72.7% and 53.0% (P = .02).IMRT improves the survival rate of patients with NPC. Recurrence and metastasis mainly occur within 2 to 3 years after radiotherapy. Induction and concurrent chemotherapy improve the 5-year DSS of patients with locally advanced NPC.
Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence of hypothyroidism in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), analyze its correlation with multiple influencing factors such as thyroid exposure dose, thyroid volume, and gender, and construct a multivariate-based normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model for the occurrence of hypothyroidism after IMRT.Materials and methodsThe thyroid hormone levels of patients at different points in time before and after radiotherapy were tested, and statistics on the incidence of hypothyroidism after treatment were obtained. The dose-volume data of patients' thyroids were converted into EQD2 equivalent dose values. The correlation between hypothyroidism after radiotherapy and thyroid exposure dose, thyroid volume, gender, and other factors was analyzed, and an NTCP model was constructed.ResultsA total of 69 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Twelve months after radiotherapy, a total of 24 patients (34.8%) developed hypothyroidism. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis revealed that the average thyroid dose and thyroid volume are the most important factors affecting hypothyroidism after radiotherapy. The NTCP model constructed based on the average dose and thyroid volume has a good degree of fit.ConclusionThe volume and average dose of the thyroid gland are the key factors affecting the occurrence of hypothyroidism in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy. The NTCP model constructed based on multivariate construction suggests that reducing the average dose of the thyroid to the greatest extent is an effective way to protect thyroid functions.
Project description:Purpose: We used randomized trials of radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma to investigate the survival benefit of chemoradiotherapy regimens between two/three-dimensional radiotherapy (2D/3D RT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: Overall, 27 trials and 7,940 patients were included. Treatments were grouped into seven categories including RT alone, induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by RT (IC-RT), RT followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (RT-AC), IC followed by RT followed by AC (IC-RT-AC), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CRT), IC followed by CRT (IC-CRT), and CRT followed by AC (CRT-AC). To distinguish between 2D/3D RT and IMRT, three categories in IMRT were newly added, including CRT in IMRT, IC-CRT in IMRT, and CRT-AC in IMRT. The P score was used to rank the treatments. Results: Both fixed- and random-effects frequentist and Bayesian network meta-analysis models were applied, which provided similar results and the same ranking. IC-CRT was the most effective regimen compared with CRT-AC and CRT in the IMRT era for overall survival (OS) (HR, 95% CI, IC-CRT vs. CRT-AC, 0.61 (0.45, 0.82); IC-CRT vs. CRT 0.65 (0.47, 0.91)), progression-free survival (PFS) (0.69 (0.54, 0.88); 0.63 (0.49, 0.80)), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (0.58 (0.28, 1.21); 0.60 (0.42, 0.85)). CRT-AC achieved the highest survival benefit compared with CRT, and IC-CRT for loco-regional relapse-free survival (LRRFS) (0.44 (0.15, 1.28); 0.72 (0.22, 2.33)). Among these 10 categories, after distinguishing between 2D/3D RT and IMRT, IC-CRT in IMRT ranked first for OS, PFS, and DMFS, and CRT-AC in IMRT ranked first for LRRFS. Conclusion: IC-CRT should be the most suitable regimen for loco-regionally advanced NPC in the IMRT era.
Project description:PurposeThis retrospective study aimed to re-evaluate the effect of concurrent chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).Materials and methodsA total of 498 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) or IMRT were retrospectively reviewed. The distribution of baseline characteristics was balanced using propensity score matching. Additionally, the results of NCT+IMRT and NCT+CCRT were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and differences in survival rates were analyzed using the log rank test.ResultsThere were no significant differences in overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and local progression-free survival (LRFS) between the two groups. Patients were further categorized into risk subgroups based on pretreatment Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA cutoff values using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in OS, PFS, DMFS, and LRFS between patients who received NCT+CCRT and NCT+IMRT in the high-risk group. In the low-risk group, although there were no differences between NCT+CCRT and NCT+IMRT in OS, PFS, and LRFS, patients who received NCT+CCRT had better DMFS than those who received NCT+IMRT.ConclusionPretreatment EBV DNA level can be used to individualize concurrent chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced NPC. Patients with low pretreatment EBV DNA levels may benefit from concurrent chemotherapy, whereas those with high levels may not. Other treatment modalities need to be explored for high-risk patients to improve their prognosis.
Project description:This study evaluated the distant metastatic outcomes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plus chemotherapy.530 Non-metastatic NPC patients were retrospectively collected and reviewed after receiving IMRT with or without chemotherapy between June 2006 and December 2011. Patients were treated with one fraction of IMRT daily for 5 days a week for 69.96-74.09 Gy, while 473 (89.2 %) of patients also received chemotherapy.Patients were followed up for a median follow-up duration of 49 months (range from 5 to 98 months). After treatment, 91 (17.3 %) patients developed distant metastasis. Distant metastasis after treatment was significantly associated with advanced 2010 Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)/American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T staging (p = 0.034), N stage (p < 0.001), 2010 UICC/AJCC stage (p < 0.001), and tumor recurrence (p = 0.029). However, chemotherapy failed to reduce cancer distant metastasis in early stage patients, the distant metastasis rate was 17.5 % in stage III and 24.2 % in stage IVA-B diseases, after IMRT and chemotherapy. The multivariate analysis showed that cancer remission duration, treatment modality, and metastatic site (p < 0.001, p = 0.027 and p = 0.022, respectively) were all independent predictors for overall survival of NPC patients after IMRT and chemotherapy.This study provided insight into the effects of IMRT plus chemotherapy in the treatment of NPC. Future studies will explore the efficacy of more aggressive systemic therapies for high-risk patients with distant metastasis.
Project description:Xerostomia is a common radiation-induced late complication after radiotherapy. Identifying predictive factors for xerostomia will lead to better treatments and improve the quality of life. This study was conducted to establish an effective predictive nomogram for xerostomia by assessing stage I-IVb (AJCC 7th edition) NPC patients between September 2015 and March 2016. Xerostomia was evaluated via the RTOG/EORTC system. The primary endpoint was grade 2-3 xerostomia 1 year after treatment. The predictive factors for xerostomia were analysed using logistic regression analysis. A nomogram was constructed based on combining the predictors and clinical variables. In total, 102 patients with grade 0-1 xerostomia and 93 patients with grade 2-3 xerostomia were included. The independent predictive factors for xerostomia were V25, V30, V35, and V45 of the ipsilateral parotid gland and mean dose of the contralateral parotid gland. The calibration plot for the probability of xerostomia showed good agreement between prediction by the nomogram and actual observation. The concordance index of the nomogram for predicting xerostomia was 0.796 (95% CI: 0.735-0.857, P <0.001), which was higher than any single dosimetric parameter. Our results indicated that the nomogram provided a more accurate prediction of grade 2-3 xerostomia 1 year after treatment.
Project description:ObjectivesTo develop a model that can predict the risk of hypothyroidism (HT) after intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and to accordingly recommend dose constraints.Materials and methodsNPC patients treated between 2011 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. HT was defined by an abnormally high level of thyrotropin. The dosimetry parameters Vx (percentage of thyroid volume receiving more than x Gy of radiation) and Va,b (percentage of thyroid volume receiving >a Gy, while ≤b Gy radiation) were calculated. The primary endpoint was the development of HT within the first 2 years after IMRT. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify predictors of HT.ResultsA total of 545 patients were included in the analyses, with a median follow-up of 36 months. Of the 545 patients, 138 developed HT within 2 years, and the 2-year incidence of HT was 25.3%. In patients with thyroid volume >20 cm3, the 2-year incidence of HT was 11.7% (16/137); in patients with thyroid volume ≤20 cm3 and V30,60 ≤ 80%, the 2-year HT incidence was 19.9% (33/166); in patients with thyroid volume ≤20 cm3 and V30,60 > 80%, the 2-year incidence of HT was 36.8% (89/242).ConclusionThyroid volume and V30,60 could be reliable predictors of HT after IMRT for NPC. For patients with thyroid volume ≤20 cm3, thyroid V30,60 ≤ 80% might be a useful dose constraint to adopt during IMRT planning.