Search

• Seven hundred and eighty-seven patients with N3 NPC were retrospectively reviewed. • We balanced the baseline of variables using PSM method. • The HR of treatment method was 0.54 for DMFS. • High-risk patients could benefit from the use of IC or adjuvant metronomic chemotherapy. To explore the role of induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) versus CCRT alone in patients diagnosed with N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 787 patients with newly diagnosed N3 NPC treated with IC + CCRT or CCRT alone were included. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint. We balanced variables using propensity score matching (PSM). Kaplan–Meier curves with log-rank tests were applied to evaluate the survival condition of each group. Independent prognostic factors were identified using the Cox regression analysis. PSM assigned 228 patients to IC + CCRT and CCRT alone groups. Survival analysis for the matched data set showed that IC + CCRT achieved better survival outcomes compared with CCRT alone, and significant difference was observed in 5-year PFS [74.8% (95%CI 69.2 ∼ 80.9%) vs 65.4% (95%CI 59.4 ∼ 72.0%), P = 0.008], 5-year OS [(77.4%(95%CI 71.9 ∼ 83.3%) vs66.3%(95%CI 60.3 ∼ 72.9%), P = 0.005)] and 5-year distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS)[(81.8%(95%CI 76.7 ∼ 87.2%) vs72.4%(95%CI 66.7 ∼ 78.7%), P = 0.007)] between the two treatment groups. In multivariate analysis, IC + CCRT remained an independent protective factor for PFS (adjusted HR, 0.603; 95% CI, 0.433–0.841; P = 0.003), OS (adjusted HR, 0.568; 95% CI, 0.406–0.793; P < 0.001), and DMFS (adjusted HR, 0.541; 95% CI, 0.364–0.805; P = 0.002). More chemotherapy should be considered in patients with N3 NPC because of its ability to improve survival time. This could be from the use of IC or adjuvant metronomic chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]