Treatment of locally recurrent carcinoma of the nasopharynx.

Forty-two patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the primary site and/or neck nodes were treated at the University of California, San Francisco, between 1940 and 1974. Sixty-nine per cent of the recurrences appeared within 3 years and 83% within 5 years after initial treatment. Retreatment included external radiotherapy and/or intercavitary radium or cobalt beads in the majority of cases. The actuarial survival rate was 41% at 5 years after first recurrence. Survival rates increased proportionally with increasing time between initial treatment and recurrence. There was no statistically significant difference in survival rates with respect to age, sex, race, or histology. Local soft-tissue or bone necrosis developed in 9 patients, but both conditions were tolerated well.