Outcomes of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with endoscopic nasopharyngectomy: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) is mainly managed with re-irradiation or salvage surgery. Endoscopic resection is generally considered as the preferred surgical treatment, whereas a standard treatment modality has yet to be established. This article is aimed to summarize the treatment outcomes of endoscopic rNPC resection.

METHODS

Major medical databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Library, Web of Science, and 2 major Chinese databases, CNKI and Wanfang, were searched for studies on endoscopic rNPC resection. Main characteristics of study and outcomes of interest were retrieved from articles meeting the selection criteria for meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 761 articles were identified through the initial systematic research. The combined 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 97%, 92%, and 73% with random effect model, respectively. The combined 2-year and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 81% and 62%, respectively. Meta-regression analysis showed that high recurrent tumor (rT) stage (rT3 to rT4) case proportion was a correlative factor of heterogeneity. Combined 2-year OS rate in rT1, rT2, rT3, and rT4 patients were 100%, 87%, 78%, and 38%, respectively. Combined 2-year DFS rate in rT1 and rT2 patients were and 96% and 86%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The combined OS and DFS rates of rNPC patients treated with endoscopic nasopharyngectomy were summarized and reported in our study. This meta-analysis indicated that endoscopic nasopharyngectomy has comparable and possibly better treatment outcomes than intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Therefore, the result of our study indicated that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed in rNPC patients to compare treatment outcomes of endoscopic nasopharyngectomy vs IMRT.