Radiation therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Retrospective review of 105 patients based on a survey of Kansai Cancer Therapist Group.

One hundred five patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated with radiation therapy combined with or without chemotherapy at 16 of the participating institutes in Kansai Cancer Therapist Group, Japan, from January 1978 to December 1980. The study comprised 77 males and 28 females; their ages ranged from 15 to 80 years (mean, 53 years). Five-year survival rates according to stage were as follows: Stage I, 100%; Stage II, 67%; Stage III, 44%; and Stage IV, 34%. As far as Stage IV disease was concerned, the radiation therapy only group showed significantly poorer prognosis than the combined radiation and chemotherapy group (P less than 0.05). Concerning the N stage and treatment method, the radiation therapy only group showed a higher metastatic rate than the chemotherapy combined group (35% versus 14%, P less than 0.05).