4
Views
8
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

The Promising Role of Safe Initial Non-Cisplatin-Containing Combination Chemotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Tumors

, &
Pages 517-522 | Published online: 11 Jun 2009
 

Abstract

Twenty patients with previously untreated nasopharyngeal tumors received, as initial treatment, two courses of Schedule A chemotherapy including vincristine, 5-fluorouracil, bleomycin, hydrocortisone, methotrexate, and a folinic acid rescue, prior to definitive radiotherapy. Thirteen patients had Stage IV and seven had Stage III tumors, with nodai involvement in 18 patients (90%). Response to mo courses of Schedule A chemotherapy was assessed on day 28, and overall, 18 patients responded. Side effects were minimal. Following radiotherapy 17patients achieved a clinical complete remission. Durations of response ranged from 6 to 95 + months (median 40 months) and of survival from 8 to 95+ months (median 53 months). This chemotherapy protocol should be more widely evaluated as initial treatment in nasopharyngeal carcinomas since the 90% chemotherapy response rate and, after radiotherapy, 85 % clinical complete remission rate was accomplished with minimal toxicity and interference with patients' quality of life and resulted in median overall survival figures of approximately four years.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.