Nasopharyngeal cancer: study III. A review of 1206 patients treated with combined modalities.

A combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy was used in an attempt to improve the control of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). From 1979 through 1983, 1206 patients with histologically proven NPC were treated with routine radiation along with 5 combinations of drug or drugs in small to maintenance doses. The drugs used were: 1) cyclophosphamide p.o. (CTX), 2) methotrexate p.o. (MTX), 3) CTX + MTX, 4) bleomycin i.v. (BLM), and 5) cisplatin + BLM i.v. (BP). The actuarial survival rates and recurrence rates were chosen as endpoints for comparison to previous studies. The overall survival rate increased from 43.5% in study I, and 56% in study II to 70.6% in the present study. The recurrence rate declined to 13%, but was less impressive. The encouraging results were more obvious in groups of patients with bilateral large cervical lymph nodes, reaching statistical significance (p less than 0.01).