[Radiotherapy alone versus neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and irradiation in the treatment of carcinoma of the cavum].

Radiation therapy is the usual treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, in recent years the use of neoadyuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of local and regionally advanced carcinoma has been investigated. We report the results of a retrospective study of two treatments used in our center. The study included 68 patients: 34 (group A) who received radiotherapy alone and 34 (group B) who received neoadyuvant chemotherapy before radiotherapy. In group A, 70.6% achieved a complete clinical response: 23.5% relapsed: 5 patients presented distant metastases. Survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 53% and 27% respectively; the disease-free survival was 71.4% at 5 years and 54% at 10 years. In group B, the complete clinical response rate to neoadyuvant chemotherapy was 35.3%, which increased to 73.5% when the treatment was complemented with radiotherapy. The relapse rate was 14.7%; the survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 49.5% and 49%, respectively; and the disease-free survival was 77.2% at 5 and 10 years.