Clinical study of induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by radiotherapy and concurrent cisplatin in local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To assess the efficacy and feasibility of neoadjuvant therapy of TPF regimen including docetaxel (TAX), cisplatin (DDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) combined with concurrent DDP and radiotherapy (RT) in patients with local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods From April 2008 to May 2009, 40 patients with newly diagnosed UICC stage Ⅲ orⅣ local advanced NPC were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to group A(DDP every 3 weeks) and group B(DDP every week). Two cycles of induction chemotherapy with TAX 60 mg/m2 dl, DDP 60 mg/m3 dl and 5-Fu 600 mg/m2 dl-5 were given on a 3-weekly cycle, followed by RT and chemotherapy(group A: DDP 80 mg/m2 every 3 weeks for 2 times; group B: DDP 30 mg/m2 weekly for 6 times). Two-dimension conformal RT technique with 68-72 Gy/(34-36) fractions for 7 weeks was administered to the nasopharynx and 60-66 Gy/(30-33) fractions for 6-6.5 weeks to the node-positive area. Results 38 patients (78 Cycles) were evaluable for efficacy and toxicity. One patient in each group was excluded due to toxicity. 17 (17/19) patients of group A finished 2 cycles of planed DDP chemotherapy, while only 10 (10/19) patients of group B completed 6 weeks of planed DDP chemotherapy, 4 completed 5 weeks, 4 completed 4 weeks and 1 completed 2 weeks. Response to neoadjuvant TPF was as follows: 4 patients (10.5 %) achieved complete response(CR), 27(71.1%) achieved partial response(PR) and 7 (18.4 %) achieved stable disease (SD), so the overall response (CR+PR) rate was 81.6 %. After RT, 32 patients (84.2 %) achieved CR, 5 (13.2 %) PR and 1 (2.6 %) SD, so the overall response rate was 97.4 %. Conclusion TPF induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent DDP and RT is an effective regimen in the treatment of advanced NPC. Concurrent DDP chemotherapy on a 3-weekly cycle is recommended. Further study should be made to investigate how to increase the dose intensity of chemotherapy. Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasms; Drug therapy,combination; Radiotherapy,computerassisted