Prognostic analysis of patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma following intensity modulated radiation therapy

The present study retrospectively analyzed the prognostic factors of 135 patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) who received intensity modulated radiation therapy between August 2008 and January 2012 at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. Patients were staged from III-IVA according to the 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system. Using Statistical Analysis System 9.3 software, the present study demonstrated that, among these 135 patients, the 5-year overall survival, the 5-year local relapse-free survival, and the 5-year disease metastasis-free survival were 84, 82, and 78%, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified that targeted treatment [hazard ratio (95% confidence interval), 2.642 (1.001, 6.972); P=0.0497] served as an independent negative prognostic factor in locally advanced NPC. The results of immunostaining revealed that the staining intensity of the radiation-resistant group was increased compared with that of the radiation-sensitive group. These results demonstrate that a high expression of EGFR may be associated with radiation resistance, and targeted treatment may not be effective in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma with low expression of EGFR.