Perri F, Scarpati GDV, Buonerba C, Lorenzo GD, Longo F, Muto P, Schiavone C, Sandomenico F, Caponigro F. Combined chemo-radiotherapy in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinomas. World J Clin Oncol 2013; 4(2): 47-51 [PMID: 23696962 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v4.i2.47]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Francesco Perri, MD, Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, National Tumor Institute of Naples, Via Mariano Semmola 80131 Naples, Italy. francesco.perri80@alice.it
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Brief Article
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. May 10, 2013; 4(2): 47-51 Published online May 10, 2013. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v4.i2.47
Combined chemo-radiotherapy in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinomas
Francesco Perri, Giuseppina Della Vittoria Scarpati, Carlo Buonerba, Giuseppe Di Lorenzo, Francesco Longo, Paolo Muto, Concetta Schiavone, Fabio Sandomenico, Francesco Caponigro
Francesco Perri, Francesco Caponigro, Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, National Tumor Institute of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Giuseppina Della Vittoria Scarpati, Medical Oncology Unit, Hospital of Salerno, 84090 Salerno, Italy
Carlo Buonerba, Giuseppe Di Lorenzo, Medical Oncology Unit, University Federico II of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Francesco Longo, Otolaryngology Unit, National Tumor Institute of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Paolo Muto, Concetta Schiavone, Fabio Sandomenico, Radiotherapy Unit, National Tumor Institute of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Perri F, Della Vittoria Scarpati G and Buonerba C designed the research; Perri F, Della Vittoria Scarpati G, Buonerba C, Di Lorenzo G, Longo F, Muto P, Schiavone C, Sandomenico F and Caponigro F contributed to the acquisition of data; Perri F and Buonerba C contributed to the analysis of data, drafting and revising the article; all authors approved the final version of the paper.
Correspondence to: Francesco Perri, MD, Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, National Tumor Institute of Naples, Via Mariano Semmola 80131 Naples, Italy. francesco.perri80@alice.it
Telephone: +39-815-903362 Fax: +39-815-903822
Received: February 14, 2013 Revised: March 30, 2013 Accepted: April 13, 2013 Published online: May 10, 2013 Processing time: 94 Days and 12.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Clinical data of 40 patients (33 males, 7 females) with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated at two participating institutions from March 2006 to March 2012 were reviewed. Patients received either induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT) (22/40 patients) or CCRT alone (18/40). Patients underwent fiberoscopy with biopsy of the primitive tumor, and a computed tomography scan of the head, neck, chest and abdomen with and without contrast. Cisplatin was used both as induction and as concomitant chemotherapy, while 3D conformal radiation therapy was delivered to the nasopharynx and node areas (total dose, 70 Gy). A complete response rate of approximately 95% was achieved both in patients treated with induction chemotherapy followed by CCRT and in those treated with CCRT alone. In the sub-group of twenty patients with a follow-up time longer than 36 mo, the 3-year survival and disease free survival rates were 85% and 75%, respectively. These results showed that both CCRT and induction chemotherapy followed by CCRT have excellent activity in locally advanced NPC. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy remains to be defined.
