Predictive factors of chemotherapy use in stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study

Identification of predictive factors of chemotherapy use and assessment of the roles of these factors in prognosis will aid therapeutic decision-making in stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Using logistic regression, we retrospectively assessed factors predicting chemotherapy use in 251 stage II (2010 UICC/AJCC staging system) NPC patients. Five-year overall survival (OS), locoregional-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were analyzed based on the predictive factors. Logistic regression found that N1 stage was an independent factor predicting chemotherapy use in stage II NPC patients. However, 5-year OS (96.5% vs 94.9%, P = .564), LRFS (98.2% vs 96.9%, P = .652), and DMFS (95.9% vs 97.6%, P = .560) did not differ between N0 and N1 stage patients. Moreover, addition of chemotherapy use did not improve treatment outcomes in N1 stage compared with radiotherapy alone. N1 stage predicted chemotherapy use in stage II NPC patients. But, the addition of chemotherapy did not provide a survival benefit.