1. Induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and gemcitabine followed by accelerated radiotherapy and concurrent cisplatin in patients with stage IV(A-B) nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- Author
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Wai Tong Ng, Elian Wing Kin Chan, Macy Tong, Anne Wing Mui Lee, Tsz Kok Yau, Dominique H.M. Wong, Rebecca M.W. Yeung, and Inda Sung Soong
- Subjects
Oncology ,Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.drug_class ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Antimetabolite ,Deoxycytidine ,Drug Administration Schedule ,Internal medicine ,Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ,medicine ,Humans ,Survival rate ,Aged ,Neoplasm Staging ,Retrospective Studies ,Cisplatin ,Chemotherapy ,business.industry ,Remission Induction ,Induction chemotherapy ,Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ,Radiotherapy Dosage ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Combined Modality Therapy ,Gemcitabine ,Surgery ,Survival Rate ,Regimen ,Treatment Outcome ,Otorhinolaryngology ,Nasopharyngeal carcinoma ,Quality of Life ,Female ,business ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin plus gemcitabine as induction chemotherapy in advanced nasopharyngeal carci- noma (NPC). Methods. Thirty-seven patients with stage IV(A-B) NPC were treated with 3 cycles of cisplatin plus gemcitabine (cisplatin 80 mg/m 2 on day 1; gemcitabine 1250 mg/m 2 on days 1 and 8) 3-weekly as induction chemotherapy, followed by another 3 cycles of concurrent cisplatin (100 mg/m 2 on day 1) 3-weekly with accelerated radiotherapy (RT) at 70 Gy in 2-Gy fractions, 6 daily fractions per week. Results. The overall response rate to induction chemother- apy was > 90%, and side effects other than uncomplicated he- matologic toxicities were uncommon. All patients completed RT, with 92% receiving � 5 cycles of chemotherapy. At a median fol- low-up of 2.9 years, the 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease- free survival (DFS) rates were 76% and 63%, respectively. Conclusions. Cisplatin plus gemcitabine is a well-tolerated, effective, and convenient induction chemotherapy regimen and warrants further studies to confirm its benefit in advanced NPC. V C 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 28: 880-887, 2006
- Published
- 2006