Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: our experience

• Published in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology Vol. 266; no. 6; pp. 833 - 838
• Main Authors: d’Espiney Amaro, Carla, Montalvão, Pedro, Henriques, Pedro, Magalhães, Miguel, Olias, João
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-06-2009; Springer
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma - epidemiology; Carcinoma - pathology; Carcinoma - therapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Female; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - epidemiology; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - pathology; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - therapy; Neoplasm Staging; Neurosurgery; Otorhinolaryngology; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Portugal - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Rhinology; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome; Tumors; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology; Portugal; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Chemotherapy; Survival; Lisbon; Prognosis; Treatment; ENT disease; Pharynx disease; ENT; Malignant tumor; Nasopharynx carcinoma; Cancer
• ISSN: 0937-4477; 1434-4726
• DOI: 10.1007/s00405-008-0822-6

The objectives of our study were to characterize nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients in the Portuguese Institute of Oncology Hospital in Lisbon (IPOLFG) and identify the main factors that interfere with patients survival rate. We performed a retrospective study involving 157 patients (65% male and 35% female) between the years 2000 and 2005, and a histological classification according to Health World Organization. We constructed a Kaplan–Meier survival curve for the studied patients and evaluated the significance of the different studied factors with a Pearson correlation study. With an average age of 53 years, most of the carcinomas were type III (58%), followed by type II (30%) and at last type I (8%). Fifty-one of carcinomas were in stage IV at time of diagnosis. Ninety-five patients (60%) had remission. Five-year actuarial survival rate of all patients was 65.1%. There was a significant difference (
P
 = 0.033) in the actuarial survival rate of staged IV patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma is the most frequent type in our geographic area. Chemotherapy improves survival rate, mainly in late stages.