Late Complications And Treatment Results Of Conventional Radiotherapy And Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy For Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Objective: A good local control and survival have been made through simple radiotherapy orchemoradiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. As the extension of life period,more andmore attention was given to the long-term damage and quality of life after radiotherapy.Thispaper makes a comparison of long-term complications and long-term outcome of different wayof radiotherapy,so as to provide reference material for the choice of radiotherapy styles forphysicians and patients.Methods: From January1,2003to July31,2006,A total of145patients treated with radicalradiotherapy were studied retrospectively.The clinical materials and information of imagingwere collected.All patients were restaged according to the2002UICC staging system ofnasopharyngeal carcinoma.68patients were treated with conventional radiotherapy,77withintensity-modulated radiotherapy. The overall survival and late complications(Xerostomia,Trismus,Dental caries,Hearing loss,Neck fibrosis，Radiation Encephalopathy)were studied. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method.The incidence ofHearing loss，Neck fibrosis and Radiation Encephalopathy were performed using Chi-squaretest. The incidence and severity of Dental caries,Xerostomia and Trismus1year,2year,3year,4year,5year after radiotherapy were performed using Mann-whitney test.Results: The incidence of neck fibrosis,the incidence and severity of Dental caries,RadiationEncephalopathy, Xerostomia and Trismus1year,2year,3year,4year,5year after radiotherapywere significantly reduced in the IMRT group.Hearing loss were lower in the IMRT group,butdid not reach statistical difference. The5-year overall survival rate were77.4%in the IMRTgroup and60.5%in the conventional radiotherapy group(χ2=4.320,p=0.038)Conclusion: The IMRT showed survival benefits and good normal tissue protection fornasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.It would be a good choice for the physicians and patients tochoose IMRT so as to achive good survival and good quality of life.