Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in the Young: The Northern Israel Oncology Center Experience, 1973–1991

Between 1973 and 1991, 10 patients with locally advanced [stages III and IV] nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated at the Northern Israel Oncology Center. All patients were treated with wide-field irradiation to the primary tumor, including the base of skull, neck, and supraclavicular region. After 1984, 6 patients also received cisplatin/5FU-based chemotherapy prior to radiotherapy and 1 patient received it after radiotherapy. All the patients who received chemotherapy are alive with no evidence of disease, for a mean disease-free survival of 96 months (range, 77 to 108 months), and no serious therapy-related late side-effects have been noted, except in one patient. We conclude that adjuvant chemotherapy may be effective in improving outcome, but only randomized prospective studies can evaluate its exact role.