Clinical effect of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective To evaluate the curative effect of radiotherapy combined with concurrent chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods 100 cases with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma(stage III and IVa)were randomized into 2 groups.Group A received radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy(n=50)and Group B received radiotherapy alone(n=50).A group of radia-tion therapy in the 1,4 weeks to give 2 cycles of cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy;B group only to radiation therapy alone.Results The rate of complete remission were 84.0%(42/50)in A group higher than the 64.0%(32/50)in B group(χ2=4.18,P0.05);The rates of 1,3-year survival were 94.0%(47/50),72.0%(36/50)in A group higher than the 88.0%(44/50),54.0%(27/50)in B group(χ2=0.80,χ2=2.75,P0.05);The rate of local recurrence were 8.0 percent(4/50)in A group were significantly lower than 26.0%(13/50)in B group(χ2=3.85,P0.05);The rate of distant metastasis of 3-year were 14.0%(7/50)in A Group were significantly lower than 32.0%(16/50)in B Group(χ2=4.12,P0.05);the mucosal injury were 54.0%(27/50)in A group were significantly higher than 29.4%(10/50)in B group(χ2=4.38,P0.05).Conclusion Radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy can improve the 3-year survival rate and decrease the distant metastasis rate in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.