Subscribe to RSS
Download PDF
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787106
A Retrospective Study of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Clinical and Treatment Outcome
Funding None.
Abstract
Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an uncommon disease endemic to Southern China, Southeast Asia, North Africa, and the Arctic. It is uncommon in southern India, and hence its treatment outcome and prognosis are not widely studied in these areas. In this study, our primary objective was to document the clinical presentation of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in southern India and to analyze the response to treatment and follow-up.
Materials and Methods The study is an institutional-based retrospective study including 26 patients with histology-proven nasopharyngeal carcinoma from January 2011 to December 2017. All patients were treated with standard protocol of intensity modulated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy. Data on patient demographics, clinical presentation, treatment, and follow-up were analyzed.
Results The median age at presentation in our study was 53.5 years. The most common histopathology subtype was nonkeratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma (65%). Nodal metastasis was the most common clinical presentation seen in 88% of the patients. Post-treatment, distant metastasis to the iliac bone, lung, liver, and spleen was seen in two patients. Complete remission was achieved in 65%, whereas three patients developed recurrence after the completion of treatment. Five-year progression-free survival was 69%.
Conclusion Nasopharyngeal carcinoma has a good response to concurrent chemoradiation. Long-term follow-up and planning surveillance strategies are essential post-treatment. Disease awareness to aid in early diagnosis and optimize management is imperative as observed from the delayed presentations in southern India.
Keywords
nasopharyngeal carcinoma - nonkeratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma - concurrent chemoradiation - metastasis - endemic locationsEthical Clearance
Institutional ethics committee clearance was obtained prior to the study. Confidentiality was ensured throughout.
Publication History
Article published online:
30 May 2024
© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India
-
References
- 1 Haleshappa RA, Thanky AH, Kuntegowdanahalli L, Kanakasetty GB, Dasappa L, Jacob L. Epidemiology and outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: experience from a regional cancer center in Southern India. South Asian J Cancer 2017; 6 (03) 122-124
- 2 Tsao SW, Yip YL, Tsang C-M. et al. Etiological factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Oral Oncol 2014; 50 (05) 330-338
- 3 Kunheri B, Agarwal G, Sunil PS, Nair AR, Pushpaja KU. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: experience and treatment outcome with radical conformal radiotherapy from a tertiary care center in India. Indian J Cancer 2017; 54 (03) 502-507
- 4 Kataki AC, Simons MJ, Das AK, Sharma K, Mehra NK. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the Northeastern states of India. Chin J Cancer 2011; 30 (02) 106-113
- 5 Chang ET, Ye W, Zeng YX, Adami HO. The evolving epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021; 30 (06) 1035-1047
- 6 Buell P. The effect of migration on the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer among Chinese. Cancer Res 1974; 34 (05) 1189-1191
- 7 Cao SM, Simons MJ, Qian CN. The prevalence and prevention of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in China. Chin J Cancer 2011; 30 (02) 114-119
- 8 Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R. et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer 2015; 136 (05) E359-E386
- 9 Hoppe RT, Goffinet DR, Bagshaw MA. Carcinoma of the nasopharynx. Eighteen years' experience with megavoltage radiation therapy. Cancer 1976; 37 (06) 2605-2612