The role of salvage surgery in the treatment of irradiation: failed nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Lee, Won Sang; Choi, Jae Young; Hong, Jung Pyo; Cho, Chang Hyun; Kim, Sang Yep

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
When nasopharyngeal carcinomas recur after radiotherapy, it becomes difficult to select further treatment modality. We reviewed surgical results of irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and investigated the role of salvage surgery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Surgical results of 10 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were investigated. All of them had a recurrent or residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiation therapy. The medical records of these patients were reviewed retrospectively and the mean survival time was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method.
RESULTS
The mean survival time of the irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients was 21.8 months. The survival times of early staged irradiation-failed tumor were longer than that of the tumor in the advance stage. Among 3 patients whose recurrent tumor stages were T1, two patients had the negative resection margin and they lived without the disease. However, none of the patients whose recurrent tumor stages were beyond T2(n=7) had the negative resection margin and lived without the disease.
CONCLUSION
Surgical treatment was an useful treatment modality for improving the survival time of early staged irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinomas.