BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEAt present, although appropriate radiotherapy and combined treatments are widely used for the patients with primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), local or regional recurrence rates are still high. According to clinical performance, pathology, and diagnostic imaging of the patients with the first recurrence of NPC, this study analyzed the clinical features of recurrent NPC to provide a reference for tracking the rules of recurrence after the treatment of patients with NPC.

METHODSClinical data of 337 patients diagnosed with recurrent NPC for the first time were collected. The diagnoses were based on pathology and/or imaging and the patients were treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 1999 and December 2004. Data used for statistical analysis included clinical performance during the patient visit, the extension of the invasion as shown on imaging, pathologic features, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) serology, restaging, etc.

RESULTSPatients were staged according to the system developed by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) in 2002. Patients with diseases at stages I/II accounted for 25.2%, while those with stage III/IV accounted for 74.8%. The median interval of relapse was 25 months. Patients had local recurrence (69.4%), regional recurrence (4.5%), or both (26.1%). Epistaxis and headache were the most common symptoms. Abduct dysfunction and facial numbness induced by cranial nerve damage were the most common signs. The probability of invasion of structures adjacent to the nasopharynx, such as the oropharynx, the prestyloid space, and the carotid sheath area, was low in patients with recurrent NPC. By contrast, the probability of invasion of structures far from the nasopharynx, such as the base of the skull, the paranasal sinuses, cranial nerves, the cavernous sinus, the brain, the pterygopalatine fossa, the infratemporal fossa, the orbital apex, and the soft palate, was higher in recurrent NPC.

CONCLUSIONSThe most common interval of relapse is about 2 years. The relapsed disease is usually more widespread and located deeper. Most recurrent NPC is advanced disease.