Search

Objective The radioprotective effects of amifostine remain uncertain in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and adverse effects and cost limit generalization of its classical everyday regimen. This phase II multicenter randomized controlled trial aimed to explore whether amifostine could ameliorate the toxicities of NPC patients in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and to compare different regimens of amifostine on effectiveness and safety. Methods Patients with stage I-IVB NPC were involved prospectively from January 1st, 2013. All patients received radical treatment based on IMRT. After a randomization stratified by their stage, these patients were allocated into 3 groups: the group treated without amifostine, the group treated with the everyday regimen of amifostine, and the group treated with the every-other-day regimen. The 3 groups of patients were compared on radiotherapy-related acute toxicities, treatment effects of NPC, and amifostine-related complications. This trial was registered on the clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT01762514). Results Until August 31st, 2017, totally 187 patients completed experimental intervention. Only amifostine of everyday regimen appeared to reduce the patient proportion of mucositis (79.1% vs. 96.8%, P=0.002). Hypocalcemia was less common in patients treated without amifostine than in those treated with amifostine (22.6% vs. 53.4% vs. 41.8%, P=0.002). Neither complete remission rates nor the survivals were affected by amifostine. Conclusions Amifostine of everyday regimen could reduce mucositis in NPC patients who received IMRT, though it also had the possibility to cause more hypocalcemia.

Objective In our previous work, we incorporated complete blood count (CBC) into TNM stage to develop a new prognostic score model, which was validated to improve prediction efficiency of TNM stage for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The purpose of this study was to revalidate the accuracy of the model, and its superiority to TNM stage, through data from a prospective study. Methods CBC of 249 eligible patients from the 863 Program No. 2006AA02Z4B4 was evaluated. Prognostic index (PI) of each patient was calculated according to the score model. Then they were divided by the PI into three categories: the low-, intermediate-and high-risk patients. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) of the three categories was compared by a log-rank test. The model and TNM stage (7th edition) were compared on efficiency for predicting the 5-year DSS, through comparison of the area under curve (AUC) of their receiver-operating characteristic curves. Results The 5-year DSS of the low-, intermediate-and high-risk patients were 96.0%, 79.1% and 62.2%, respectively. The low-and intermediate-risk patients had better DSS than the high-risk patients (P

Objective Radiosensitivity is mainly determined by the number of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by ionizing radiation and the extent of its repair. The DNA-PK complex formation is one of the major pathways by which the mammalian cells respond to DSBs repairing. Our previous study suggested that CNE1 is more radioresistant than CNE2. This study was designed to answer whether the radiosensitive difference of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma cell lines CNE1/CNE2 was related to the expression and localization of Ku70/Ku80/DNA-PKcs.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of M-VCA (methortrexate 30 mg/m2, vincristine 2 mg, cisplatin 70 mg/m2, adriamycin 30 mg/m2) combination chemotherapy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: Thirty-five patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma, including 11 patients with untreated local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 24 patients with local-regional recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, received the chemotherapy of M-VCA. The cycle was repeated on day 22 for two cycles. All patients completed the chemotherapy courses. Results: The overall response rate was 75%, with untreated local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinomas 11/11(100%), local-regional recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinomas 12/18(67%), lung metastases 8/9(89%), bone metastases 5/9(56%), and liver metastases 1/2(50%). The main side effects included mild to moderate degree alopecia, nausea/vomiting, and neutropenia. Conclusion: M-VCA is well tolerated and has good efficacy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma and is worth investigating further.