Radiotherapy Combined with induction chemotherapy for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective To evaluate the response and side-effect radiotherapy plus induction chemotherapy (R+ C) with radiotherapy alone (R alone) in the treatment of stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). Methods Between January 1999 and December 2001, 60 NPC patients were randomized into R + C and R alone groups. Radiotherapy were similar in the two groups: All patients were irradiated with a total dose of 68-78Gy for the primary tumor and 50-70Gy for the cervical lymph nodes. R+C patients were irradiated after induction chemotherapy, Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin 40mg and 5-Fluorouracil 750mg on days 1,2,3,14,15 and 16. Radiotherapy was started from 24th day. Results The total response (R+PR) rate were 90% in the R+C group and 70% in the Rlaone group. Com- parison between the total response of these two groups showed significant difference ( P 0.05). Difference were present though without any significance in the side-effect between these two groups ( P 0.05). Conclusion Radiotherapy plus induction chemotherapy can increase the total response in patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ nasopharyngeal carcinoma.