Retrospective Investigation of 49 Cases of Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Cancer Patients who were Given Neoadjuvant Docetaxel/Cisplatin Chemotherapy and Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) generally shows higher incidence in China, South-east Asia and some regions of the world. Being radio- and chemo-sensitive, NPCs have higher prevalence in middle ages and occupy a special place among head and neck tumors. The aim of this study is to investigate the results of 49 locally advanced NPC patients who were given Docetaxel/cisplatin as neoadjuvant therapy and concomitant chemoradiotherapy. Our study included 49 locally advanced NPC patients who presented to our clinic between 2004 and 2011 and received two to three cures of neoadjuvant Docetaxel/Cisplatin therapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy scheme was docetaxel 75 mg/m(2)/day and cisplatin 75 mg/m(2)/day in three weeks. Median age of the patients was 50 years, and median follow-up period was 40.4 months. After concomitant chemotherapy of the patients, complete response was obtained in 47 (95.9%) patients and partial response in 2 (4.1%) patients. Average survival was found to be 78.3 months, and 3-year and 5-year survivals were 93% and 89% respectively. 8 of 49 patients developed recurrence. Average disease-free survival (DFS) was 67.4 months and 5-year DFS rate was 84%. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NPC increased disease-free survival rates, but failed to increase general survival. In our study, our patients disease-free survival and 5-year overall survival is quite good, these values have been found promising for the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer. So this treatment regimen became a promising treatment choice due to its tolerable toxicity.