[Nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

In the period between November 1972 and December 1982, 27 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated. The male to female ratio was 20:7. and ages ranged from 17 to 71 years with a median of 46. Most of the cases were classified as stage 4. Histological findings according to the WHO classification revealed undifferentiated carcinoma in two-thirds of all cases. The cumulative survival rate was 41.9% over a three-year-period and 17.1% over a five-year-period. Both primacy lesion and regional lymph node metastases were well controlled by radiation therapy. In patients with cranial nerve palsy and/or destruction of the skull base, distant metastasis developed severely later. Most of the distant metastases were found in bone and/or in the lung. In 14 of the 27 cases, systemic chemotherapy using various drugs, either alone or in combination, was performed. No complete response was obtained. Partial response was observed when adriamycin and vincristine were used in combination. Minor response was observed when pepleomycin or adriamycin was used alone. The sequential combination of bleomycin and mitomycin-c also produced minor response. Pre-radiation chemotherapy is recommended to obtain more effective results. The combined use of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (cisplatin) and pepleomycin (peplomycin) was reported to be effective in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The testing of pre-radiation chemotherapy using this combination is encouraged for in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.