Comparison of efficacy and adverse reactions between radiotherapy combined with cisplatin and radiotherapy combined with nimotuzumab in treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and adverse reactions of radiotherapy combined with cisplatin or nimotuzumab after induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods Sixty patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳb nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomly divided into experimental group (n=28) and control group (n=32). The two groups received radiotherapy after three cycles of induction chemotherapy with TPF. The control group received cisplatin during radiotherapy at a dose of 40 mg/m2, once a week, for 7 weeks, while the experimental group received nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy at a dose of 200 mg, once a week, for 7 weeks. Survival analysis was used with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test, efficacy and adverse reactions comparing were used with χ2 test. Results The short-term treatment outcomes were evaluated at three months after treatment. There were no significant differences in the complete or partial response rates between the control group and the experimental group (97% vs. 96% or 3% vs. 4%, P=0.923). There were no significant differences in 3-year progression-free survival or overall survival rate between the control group and the experimental group (88% vs. 79%, P=0.352; 97% vs. 89%, P=0.268) The experimental group had significantly lower incidence rates of marrow suppression, severe fatigue, nausea, and vomiting than the control group (P=0.002, 0.008, 0.001). Conclusions There is no significant difference in clinical efficacy between radiotherapy combined with cisplatin and radiotherapy combined with nimotuzumab in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, radiotherapy combined with targeted therapy achieves significantly fewer adverse reactions. Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasms/concurrent chemoradiotherapy; Nimotuzumab; Short-term effects; Adverse effects