Clinical Study Of Hyperthermia In Treatment Of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma With Metastatic Foci In Cervical Lymph Nodes

0bjective:To evaluate short-term efficacy of the method of microwave hyperthermia combined with chemoradiotherapy in treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma with metastatic foci in cervical lymph nodes. Methods:154 cases with N2 ,N3 stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma ('92 stage system)were randomized into two groups : microwave hyperthermia combined with chemoradiotherapy (A group,76cases) and chemoradiotherapy (B group,78cases) alone .Both of two groups received 1-2 cycles of chemotherappy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil and then received regular radiotherapy and the total doses were 70～78Gy/35-39f, 47～51d,in nasopharynx and 68～72Gy/34-36f,46～50d,in the neck.Group A received microwave hyperthermia in the metastatic cervical node at the beginning of radiotherapy; The patients received hyperthermia 45 minutets every time ,two times per week,8-10 times in total.Then, Group A were randomized into two groups again: microwave hyperthermia before radiotherapy (C group,36cases) and microwave hyperthermia after radiotherapy (D group,40cases). Group C received hyperthermia before radiotherapy and group D received hyperthermia after radiotherapy within 1 hour.Results The complete response rates of neck in the group A and B were 80.3% and 61.5%(P<0.05). The overall response rates of neck in the two groups were 100%,96.2%.The radiotherapy doses when the cervical lymph node disappeared were 45.8±5.46Gy, 58.8±5.03Gy,respectively(P<0.01).The complete response rates of neck in the group C and D were 77.8% and 82.5%(P>0.05). The overall response rates of neck in the two groups were 100%,100%.The radiotherapy doses when the cervical lymph node disappeared were 45.1±5.4Gy Gy, 46.4±5.5Gy,respectively(P>0.05).Conclusion Microwave hyperthermia combined with chemoradiotherapy can increase the complete response rate of the cervical lymph node and decrease radiotherapy dose for the cervical lymph node in patients with N2 ,N3 stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma.There is no significant difference in the complete response rates of neck between hyperthermia before radiotherapy and after radiotherapy in treating patients with N2 ,N3 stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma. There is no significant difference in the radiotherapy doses when the cervical lymph node disappeared.