Progress report of a randomized trial comparing long-term survival and late toxicity of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with adjuvant chemotherapy versus radiotherapy alone in patients with stage III to IVB nasopharyngeal carcinoma from endemic regions of China.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term survival and late toxicities of concurrent-adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage III through IVB nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from endemic regions of China. METHODS: Patients with stage III to IVB NPC were assigned randomly to receive radiotherapy (RT) alone (the RT group) or RT plus concurrent adjuvant chemotherapy (the CRT group). CRT patients received concurrent cisplatin (40 mg/m2) weekly during RT followed by cisplatin (80 mg/m2) and fluorouracil (800 mg/m(2) daily for 5 days) every 4 weeks for 3 cycles. The primary endpoint was overall survival. RESULTS: In total, 316 patients underwent randomization, with 158 to each group. At a median follow-up of 70 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 72% for the CRT group and 62% for the RT group (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.48-0.99; P = .043). Failure-free survival was significantly higher in the CRT group (P = .020). Most late toxicities were similar (33% vs. 26%; P = .089), except for cranial neuropathy (P = .042), peripheral neuropathy (P = .041), and ear damage (P = .048), which were significantly increased in the CRT group. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of concurrent adjuvant chemotherapy to RT provides survival benefits to patients with stage III through IVB NPC in endemic regions of China, and it does not increase most late toxicities apart from cranial neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, and ear damage.

Preliminary results of a prospective randomized trial comparing concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus adjuvant chemotherapy with radiotherapy alone in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma in endemic regions of china.

PURPOSE: A prospective randomized trial was performed to evaluate the efficacy of concurrent chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in endemic regions of China. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between July 2002 and September 2005, 316 eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive either radiotherapy alone (RT) or chemoradiotherapy concurrent with adjuvant chemotherapy (CRT). All patients received 70 Gy in 7 weeks using standard RT portals and techniques. The CRT patients were given concurrent cisplatin (40 mg/m(2) on Day 1) weekly during RT, followed by cisplatin (80 mg/m(2) on Day 1) and fluorouracil (800 mg/m(2) on Days 1-5) every 4 weeks (Weeks 5, 9, and 13) for three cycles after completion of RT. All patients were analyzed by intent-to-treat analysis. RESULTS: The two groups were well-balanced in all prognostic factors and RT parameters. The CRT group experienced significantly more acute toxicity (62.6% vs. 32%, p = 0.000). A total of 107 patients (68%) and 97 patients (61%) completed all cycles of concurrent chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy, with a median follow-up time of 29 months. The 2-year overall survival rate, failure-free survival rate, distant failure-free survival rate, and locoregional failure-free survival rate for the CRT and RT groups were 89.8% vs. 79.7% (p = 0.003), 84.6% vs. 72.5% (p = 0.001), 86.5% vs. 78.7% (p = 0.024), and 98.0% vs. 91.9% (p = 0.007), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This trial demonstrated the significant survival benefits of concurrent chemotherapy plus adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC in endemic regions of China.