Abstract

Incidence: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a rare disease in Caucasians and is commonly WHO Type 1 (squamous cell carcinoma) histology. NPC is endemic in southern China (the Guangdong Province), Hong Kong and Taiwan, and is usually WHO Type 3 (undifferentiated) histology. These differing patient cohorts and different staging systems have hampered the rate of progress in optimizing the management of NPC patients.Changing demographics: Melbourne's population demographics have changed significantly since 1985. Our NPC population currently bridges the endemic and non-endemic populations.Treatment: There have been major improvements in radiation therapy techniques. The optimal conformal radiation technique(s) to be used if IMRT is not available is discussed. Concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy (chemoradiation) is the current standard of treatment in NPC. The role of additional sequential chemotherapy is controversial. A randomized trial comparing induction chemotherapy and chemoradiation versus chemoradiation alone would be very informative.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.