New T staging recommendations for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma

TL;DR

This study proposes a new T staging system for recurrent nasopharyngeal cancer that better predicts patient survival than the current standard.

Contribution

A new rT staging system for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma with improved survival prediction.

Findings

The new rT staging system showed better predictive value for survival than the 8th UICC/AJCC staging.

rT1 and rT2 patients in the new system had significantly different survival outcomes.

Smoking, family history, and recurrence time were independent prognostic factors for survival.

Abstract

The International Union for Cancer Control/American Joint Committee on Cancer (UICC/AJCC) rT staging is not clinically practical for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC). The aim of this study was to establish a new rT staging to guide the treatment of rNPC.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 175 patients diagnosed with rNPC between January 2012 and December 2020, using ROC curve analysis to evaluate its effectiveness.

We analyzed the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival(PFS) of patients diagnosed with rNPC according to the 8th (UICC/AJCC) rT staging, and found that the overall survival of rT1 and rT2 patients (OS; 29.98% vs. 27.09%, p = 0.8059) and progression-free survival (PFS; 28.48% vs. 26.12%, p = 0.4045) had no significant difference. In rT1 and rT2 patients of this study, overall survival(OS; 30.44% vs. 24.91%, p = 0.0229) and progression-free survival(PFS 29.12% vs. 24.03%, p = 0.0459) had a significant difference. Smoking, family history, and time interval of initial recurrence were independent prognostic factors for OS and PFS.

The new rT staging of this study has a better predictive value for survival of rNPC patients than the 8th (UICC/AJCC) rT staging.

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