Abstract
The results of a retrospective analysis of 84 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma are reported. From 1972 to 1982, 55 patients were treated with radical radiotherapy [RT] alone (treatment 1). From 1983 to 1989, 29 patients received four to six courses of adjuvant chemotherapy [CT] of CMU regimen (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and UFT, a 5-FU analog) after radical RT (treatment 2). The actuarial 5-year survival rates of treatments 1 and 2 were 30.9% and 44.4%, respectively. There was statistically significant difference in survival curves of treatments 1 and 2 with a p-value less than.05 by the logrank test. The total failure rates of treatments 1 and 2 were estimated to be 73% and 59%, respectively, indicating that addition of CT does not lead to remarkable improvement in tumor control. The median times to progression were 7 months in treatment 1 and 13 months in treatment 2. In conclusion, the combined CT of CMU regimen with RT achieved significantly better 5-year survival, with the improvement mainly attributable to a later relapse time compared to 55 historical controls that received RT alone.
