Concurrent Chemotherapy for T4 Classification Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in the Era of Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate concurrent chemotherapy for T4 classification nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated by intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). METHODS: From July 2004 to June 2011, 180 non-metastatic T4 classification NPC patients were retrospectively analyzed. Of these patients, 117 patients were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) using IMRT and 63 cases were treated by IMRT alone. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 58.97 months (range, 2.79–114.92) months. For all the patients, the 1, 3 and 5-year local failure-free survival (LFFS) rates were 97.7%, 89.2% and 85.9%, regional failure free survival (RFFS) rates were 98.9%, 94.4% and 94.4%, distant failure-free survival (DFFS) rates were 89.7%, 79.9% and 76.2%, and overall survival (OS) rates were 92.7%, 78.9% and 65.3%, respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed in LFFS, RFFS, DFFS and OS between the CCRT group and the IMRT alone group. No statistically significant difference was observed in acute toxicity except leukopenia (p = 0.000) during IMRT between the CCRT group and the IMRT alone group. CONCLUSION: IMRT alone for T4 classification NPC achieved similar treatment outcomes in terms of disease local control and overall survival as compared to concurrent chemotherapy plus IMRT. However, this is a retrospective study with a limited number of patients, such results need further investigation in a prospective randomized clinical trial.