ObjectiveTo evaluate the outcomes and toxicities of elderly nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with conventional radiotherapy alone.MethodsFrom January 1995 to December 1998,95 newly diagnosed nasopharyngeai carcinoma with age ≥65 years treated in our hospital.The clinical data were analyzed retrospectively.Kaplan-Meier method was used for analysis of local-regional control survival and distant metastasis-free survival. The Logrank test was used for univariate prognostic analysis and Cox regression was used for multivariable prognostic analysis.ResultsThe follow-up rate was 98％.The 3-,5- and 8-year local-regional control (LRC) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates were 89％,87％,84％ and 85％,79％,79％,respectively. The most common acute toxicities were grade1-2 leukopenia (36％),skin reaction (64％) and mucositis (66％).The most frequent late toxicities were hearing impairment (8％),trismus ( 10％ ) and radiation-induced cranial neuropathy (5％).In univariate analysis,interruption of radiotherapy ( χ2 =7.45,P =0.006 ) and regional neck lymph nodes response (χ2 =4.17,P=0.041 ) was the prognostic factors for LRC,T stage (χ2 =4.16,P=0.032),N stage ( χ2 =4.66,P =0.031 ) and interruption of radiotherapy ( χ2 =9.42,P =0.002 ) was the prognostic factors for DMFS. In multivariable analysis,interruption of radiotherapy and the regional neck lymph nodes response were the prognostic factors for LRC (χ2=6.19,P=0.013 and χ2=12.16,P=0.002;respectively),N stage and radiotherapy interruption were prognostic factors for DMFS.(χ2=15.06,P =0.000 and χ2 =21.62,P =0.000 ; respectively ).ConclusionsConventional radiotherapy alone for elder NPC can produce satisfactory results with acceptable treatment-relative toxicities.Our experience showed that the early N stage,without radiotherapy interruption and good regional lymph nodes response had a good longterm prognosis.

Objective To evaluate the autocontouring accuracy using the atlas-based autosegmentation of CT images for head-and-neck cancer.Methods Ten head and neck patients with contours were selected.Two groups of autocontouring atlas were tested,the first group was for patients with own atlas,for the second group we tested the autocontouring of eight patients with other two patients atlas.Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and overlap index (OI) were introduced to evaluate the autocontours,and the discrepancy between the two groups was evaluated through paired t-test.Results Both the DSC and OIof all the organs in the first group were ＞0.80,the result of mandible was the highest ( ＞0.91 ),the DSC of the gross tumor volume (GTV) was the lowest (0.81 ),the OI of the GTV was 0.82,and the DSC and OI of the clinical target volume (node) were 0.82 and 0,79,respectively.Only the risk organ was delineated in the second group,and spinal cord and brain stem were combined to analyze.All the DSC was about 0.70,and the DSC and OI of mandible were higher than the others,which was due to its bone anatomy.The accuracy in the second group was significantly lower than that of the first group ( t =3.24 - 8.26,P =0.014 -0.000),except the right parotid (t=2.08,P=0.075).Conclusions Automatic segmentation generates contours of sufficient accuracy for adaptive planning intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to accommodate anatomic changes during treatment.For convention planning IMRT normal structure auto-contouring,it need to select more standard atlas in order to acquire a satisfied autocontours.

margin from CTV to PTV.

Objective To study the outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by late-course 3-dimentional conformal radiotherapy(3DCRT). Methods 37 primary nasopharyngeal carcinomas were involved into the CRT group. A total dose of 70 Gy to 74 Gy was delivered by using the conventional method (36 Gy) and late-course 3DCRT technique (34 ~ 38 Gy). This group was matched with a same number of patients who were treated with conventional method alone (Routing group). The treatment results and acute toxicity between the two groups were analyzed. Results The complete response (CR) rate of primary tumor was achieved 100 % in CRT group and 86 % in routing group, respectively. The CRT group had severe mucositis and peripheral neuropathy, but the difference was not statistically significant. There was no difference in the overall survival between the two groups. Conclusion Late-course 3DCRT is an effective method in the treatment of primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective To compare the prognostic value of the 7th edition of AJCC cancer staging system in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with conventional radiotherapy (CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).Methods From January 2004 to December 2006,totally 1138 NPC patients were treated with CRT (790 patients) and IMRT (348 patients) in Cancer Hospital of Fujian province.The median ages were 47 and 45 years old for two groups ( x2 =1.49,P =0.222 ),respectively.There were 0,41,488,261 and 5,65,176,102 patients in stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ of the two groups after restaged with 7th edition of AJCC cancer staging system,respectively (x2 =64.78,P =0.001 ).The 3-year survival was analyzed according to T-category,N-category and overall stage.Results The follow-up rate at 3 years is 96.0％.The median follow-up were 32 months and 33 months for CRT and IMRT groups.N-category was found to be the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS,x2 =6.50,P =0.038 and x2 =13.60,P =0.004) and metastasis free survival ( MFS,x2 =7.78,P =0.009 and x2 =15.30,P =0.002) for CRT and IMRT groups.The clinical stage was prognostic factor for OS in conventional group ( x2 =6.70,P=0.035),and for MFS in IMRT group (x2 =9.12,P=0.028).Conclusions The T-calegory of 7th AJCC staging system shows poor predictive value for the long-term survival of NPC patients.The N-calegory of 7th AJCC staging system can well estimate the OS and MFS for NPC.

ObjectiveTo analyze the correlation between primary tumor volume (PTV) and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma ( NPC ) treated by intensity-modulated radiotherapy ( IMRT ).Methods330 NPC patients treated by IMRT were included.Pretreatment computerized tomography image were input into tree-dimensional treatment-planning system,in which the primary tumor volume were calculated automatically.The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the best cut-off point of PTV.Within the framework of UICC 2002 T stage,The PTV was divided into four groups:V1 ＜ 10cm3,V2 10-25 cm3,V3 ＞ 25-50 cm3 and V4 ＞ 50 cm3.Kaplan-Meier and Logrank test was used to analyze the survival,Cox proportion risk regression model were used to analysis the correlation between PTV and prognosis.ResultsThe mean PTV for all NPC patients was ( 34.2 ± 27.1 ) cm3 with the range of 0.4- 153.7 cm3.The 3-year overall survival for V1,V2,V3 and V4 stage were 88.6％,90.0％,91.2％ and 74.2％,respectively (x2 =12.83,P =0.005 ).There was no significant difference among V1,V2 and V3in terms of overall survival ( x2 =1.96,P =0.376).The 3-year distant metastasis-free survival and diseasesfree survival or overall survival were decrease in PTV ＞50 cm3 and PTV≤50 cm3 (77.4％:89.9％,x2 =7.24,P=0.007and 64.5％:85.1％,x2 =13.95,P=0.000 or 74.2％:90.3％,x2 =11.76,P=0.001).Multivariate analysis revealed that PTV was a adverse prognostic factors for overall survival (x2 =0.00,P =2.580).ConclusionOur data showed that the primary tumor volume had significantly impacted on the prognosis of NPC patients treated by intensity modulated radiotherapy.

Objective To study the feasibility of dose calculation using kilovoltage X-ray cone-beam CT (KVCBCT) imaging for head-and-neck radiation therapy.Methods 11 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were scanned with KVCBCT to adjust position before treatment, and rescanning images with KVCBCT after correction were input a treatment-planning system.The dose was recalculated by applying the patients′ treatment plans based on planning CT to the KVCBCT images.The dose distributions and dose volume histograms (DVH) of the tumor and critical structures were compared with the original treatment plan.Results The DVH and dose distribution of the plan based on the KVCBCT are compared with that of the planning CT, and they shows a good consistency for the 11 cases.The doses calculated from the planning CT and KVCBCT were compared on the isocenter planes.Using γ analysis with a criterion of 3%/3 mm, 98.0%±1.33% of the points on the isocenter planes in the planning CT and KVCBCT.The difference of the dose to target volume was<1% and to normal structure was<2%.Conclusions This study indicated that CBCT images can be used to make a treatment plan with its individual hounsfield unit-electron density calibration curve.

Objective To analyze the long-term efficacy,prognostic factors and radiation sequela of nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)treated with radiotherapy at the end of last century.Methods From January 1995 to December 1998,1706 newly diagnosed NPC patients treated with radiotherapy were included in the retrospective clinical analysis.There were 1081 patients treated with radiotherapy alone,625 with two to three circles of chemotherapy(5-Fu and DDP)before radiotherapy,23 with thermotherapy during radiotherapy and 162 with braehytherapy by 192Ir after external beam radiation.Results The 5-year overall survival. local control survival and disease-free survival rates were 67.60%.84.20%and 64.22%.respectively.The 5-year survival of patients with stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲand Ⅳ(the Fuzhou Staging,1992)were 100%,75.93%,66.47%and 49.34%.respectively.Cox regression analysis showed that the TNM classification,radiotherapy discontinuance,chemotherapy,sex,age and anemia before radiotherapy were the significant factors of survival.Conclusions Our experience shows that the main factors for the long term survival of NPC patients after radiotherapy are early TNM stage,young age,female,non-anemia before radiotherapy, radiotherapy continuance and chemotherapy.

Objective To evaluate the impact of reducing clinical target volume (CTV) on the efficacy of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) . Methods Between August 2003 and March 2007, 380 NPC patients were treated with IMRT with reduced CTV.CTV1, defined as high risk region, included GTV +5 - 10 mm margin and the entire nasopharyngeal mucosa +5 mm submucosal volume; CTV2, designed for potentially involved regions, included the nasopharyngeal cavity (limited to the posterior part of nasal cavity only), maxillary sinus (limited to 5 mm anterior to the posterior nasal aperture and maxillary mucosa), pterygopalatine fossa, posterior ethmoid sinus,parapharyngeal space, skull base, anterior third of clivus and cervical vertebra, inferior spheniod sinus and cavernous sinus and internal group of retropharyngeal lymph nodal regions from the base of skull to cranial edge of the second cervical vertebra. The prescription dose was: GTV 66. 00 -69. 75 Gy/30 - 33 f, CTV1 60. 00 -66. 65 Gy,CTV2/CTVN 54. 0 -55.8 Gy. 308 patients with stage Ⅲ or Ⅳ diseases also received cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Results The follow-up rate was 100%. 145 patients were followed-up to 3 years. The 3-year estimated local control, regional control, metastasis-free survival,disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 94. 9%, 97.4%, 86. 2%, 80. 9% and 89. 0%,respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that N-classification was a significant prognostic factor for metastasis-free survival (x2 = 20. 80, P = 0. 001), N-classification (x2 = 18. 30, P = 0. 003) and age (x2 =7. 31, P =0. 004) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Grade 2 xerostomia was observed in 5.6% of the patients after two years of IMRT, no Grade 3 or 4 xerostomia was observed. Local, regional,and distant failures were developed in 4. 2%, 2. 6% and 12. 1% of the patients, respectively. Conclusions The IMRT approach with reduced CTV2 provids a favorable outcome for NPC with acceptable toxicities.

Objective To investigate the clinical typing of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in patients treated by intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 333 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were initially treated in our hospital from 2003 to 2006 ;they had no distant metastasis and received IMRT.These patients were divided into 4 clinical types according to their prognosis:type Ⅰ (without local-regional recurrence and without distant metastasis),type Ⅱ (with local-regional recurrence and without distant metastasis),type Ⅲ (without local-regional recurrence and with distant metastasis),and type Ⅳ (with local-regional recurrence and with distant metastasis).Results Of all the patients,70.0％ (233) were of type Ⅰ,12.9％ (43) of type Ⅱ,16.5％ (55) of type Ⅲ,and 0.6％ (2) of type Ⅳ.Of 57 patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ nasophayngeal carcinoma,86％ (49) were of type Ⅰ,11％ (6) of type Ⅱ,4％ (2) of type Ⅲ,and 0％ (0) of type Ⅳ,and of 276 patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ nasopharyngeal carcinoma,66.7％ (184) were of type Ⅰ,13.4％ (37) of type Ⅱ,19.2％ (53) of type Ⅲ,and 0.7％ (2) of type Ⅳ,with significant differences between the two patient groups (P =0.007).Of the 69 patients who received IMRT alone,80％ (55) were of type Ⅰ,12％ (8) of type Ⅱ,9％(6) of type Ⅲ,and 0％ (0) of type Ⅳ; of the 218 patients who received IMRT combined with neoadjuvant plus concurrent chemotherapy,68.8％ (150) were of type Ⅰ,13.8％ (30) of type Ⅱ,16.5％(36) of type Ⅲ,and 0.9％ (2) of type Ⅳ; of the 46 patients who received IMRT combined with neoadjuvant plus adjuvant chemotherapy,61％ (28) were of type Ⅰ,11％ (5) of type Ⅱ,28％ (13) of type Ⅲ,and 0％ (0) of type Ⅳ.Conclusions In patients with early and advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma,type Ⅰ is the most common,and type Ⅳ is the least common;type Ⅱ is more frequent than type Ⅲ in early patients,while type Ⅲ is more frequent than type Ⅱ in advanced patients.The percentage of type Ⅰ patients increases,while that of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ patients decreases,as compared with the data of those treated by conventional radiotherapy.