OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical features and prognosis of radiotherapy associated sarcoma (RAS) in the head and neck following radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODSThe clinicopathologic data, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up results of 11 patients with RAS diagnosed between January 1995 and December 2011 at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Among these patients, 6 were males and 5 were females. Patients' ages ranged from 33 to 66 years (median 50 years). The latency period for development of the RAS was between 3 years and 23 years (median 7 years) after irradiation. Overall survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Log rank test.

RESULTSAll cases underwent surgery, of them 6 casesachieved radical resection3 cases left with microscopic positive resection margins and 2 caseshad palliative surgery. Among 11 patients, 4 had re-surgery after recurrence, including 1 case had repeated surgeries followed by chemotherapy and radioactive seed implantation. Follow-up time ranged from 2 to 102 months, andeight patients died The 2-year, 3-year and 5-year cumulative survival rateswere 45.5%, 30.3% and 15.2%, respectively. The median survival time was 15 months. Surgical resection with clear margins achieved significantly better prognosis (P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of RAS after radiation of NPC is generally low, but the treatment of RAS is very difficult, with poor prognosis.