Results and prognostic factors of 66 early nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with radiotherapy

Objective To evaluate the results and prognostic factors of 66 patients with early nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC).Methods From March 1989 to April 1992,66 patients with early NPC were treated with radiotherapy alone. Retrospective univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using the Kaplan Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model.Results The overall 5 year disease free survival rate(FSR), distant metastatic rate(DMR) and local control rate(LCR) were 71.6%,17.4% and 87.8% . Patients whose nasopharyngeal lesion disappeared when 40 Gy had significantly lower FSR and higher DMR than those whose lesion disappeared 40 Gy but their LCR were not significantly different. FSR and LCR were significantly lower in patients who had hemoglobin 110?g/L than those 110?g/L,but their DMR were not significantly different.Conclusions Faster tumor disappearance during radiotherapy and lower hemoglobin level are the unfavorable prognostic factors in early NPC.