Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) remains one of the poorest prognostic lesions among head and neck cancers. Radiotherapy plays a dominant role in the treatment regimen, but the frequency of distant metastasis and primary or nodal recurrence is very high. Some of NPC patients die because radiotherapy cannot control local or distant progress of the lesion. Recently, the role of chemotherapy has increased in the treatment of NPC. From July 1977 to June 1982, 37 patients were treated for NPC in which 32 patients were treated for the first time. Sixteen patients were nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinomas, 15 undifferentiated squamous cell carcinomas and 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma. Peplomycin alone was used for 2 patients in the treatment of far advanced and recurrent NPC, and resulted in complete remission without distant metastases at 16 and 10 months respectively.
