Increased incidence of tongue cancer after primary radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma--the possibility of radiation carcinogenesis.

The aim of this study was to define the risk of tongue and other aerodigestive tract cancers developing after primary radiation therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A cohort of 903 patients with non-disseminated NPC given radical radiotherapy between 1984 and 1989 was studied for the incidence of tongue cancer and other malignancies during follow-up. A contemporary cohort of 87 patients with tongue cancer, without a history of NPC, was studied for demographic data, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption habits. These were then compared with all the NPC patients and with the NPC patients who later developed tongue cancers. There was a significantly increased number of tongue cancers following radiotherapy for NPC. The risk of developing tongue cancer after radiotherapy for NPC was 0.13% per patient per year. There was no increase in the number of other malignancies. The association between NPC and tongue cancer was that of a non-random temporal sequence with tongue cancers following NPC but not in the reverse order. The demographic data and smoking and alcohol consumption history of the 7 NPC patients who subsequently developed tongue cancer were significantly different from the de novo tongue cancer patient population. The absence of common aetiological factors between NPC and tongue cancer and the non-random sequence of tongue cancers occurring after NPC suggests that these seven tongue cancers could be radiation induced. The estimated radiation dose received by the part of the tongue developing cancer was substantial and significantly higher than the dose to the cancer-free tongue. An increase of tongue cancers after radiotherapy for NPC is reported and arguments are made in support of the hypothesis that these were radiation-induced malignancies. We suggest a decrease in the volume of tongue included within the planning target volume of NPC in the absence of oropharyngeal and/or parapharyngeal infiltration. Awareness of the association should make early diagnosis of this likely radiation-induced cancer possible.