Factors that modify the radio-response of cancer of the nasopharynx.

A study of 152 cases of carcinoma of the nasopharynx was carried out for evaluation of various features of the tumors. Survival is greatest in middle aged patients and poorest in patients under 20 years of age. Patients who presented with lymph node involvement had a better survival rate than those without, and those with undifferentiated tumors survived longer, although tumors in this group metastasized earlier. Those tumors which arose on the postero-superior wall of the nasopharynx were associated with a lower cure rate than those situated elsewhere. Spread to adjacent tissues diminished the cure rate, but the rate fell particularly low if there was spread to bone or to the central nervous system. If no neck lymph nodes were involved, patients with undifferentiated and well-differentiated lesions fared equally well, but if there was involvement of the neck lymph nodes, those with undifferentiated primary lesions obtained a better cure rate. The influence of the type of local spread, the presence of distant metastasis, and survival in relation to the histological and clinical grading of the tumor were also evaluated.