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OPEN
received: 04 May 2016 accepted: 13 January 2017 Published: 17 February 2017
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with cervical nodal necrosis Mei Lan1,*,†, Chunyan Chen1,*, Ying Huang1, Li Tian2, Zhijun Duan3, Fei Han1, Junfang Liao1, Meiling Deng1, Terence T. Sio4, Anussara Prayongrat5, Lie Zheng2, Shaoxiong Wu1 & Taixiang Lu1 The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) compared with CCRT alone in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients who presented with cervical nodal necrosis (CNN) is unknown. A total of 792 patients with stage T1-4N1-3M0 NPC and presented with CNN based on magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively reviewed. Propensity score matching method was used to balance treatment arms for baseline characteristics. Eventually, 508 patients were propensity-matched on a 1:1 basis to create two groups (NACT + CCRT and CCRT groups). Survival rates were calculated by Kaplan–Meier method and differences were compared by using the log-rank test. The 5-year disease specific survival, disease-free survival and distant metastasisfree survival were significantly higher in NACT + CCRT group relative to the matched CCRT group (82.1% vs. 72.5%, P = 0.021; 70.3% vs. 54.1%, P
OPEN
received: 04 May 2016 accepted: 13 January 2017 Published: 17 February 2017
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with cervical nodal necrosis Mei Lan1,*,†, Chunyan Chen1,*, Ying Huang1, Li Tian2, Zhijun Duan3, Fei Han1, Junfang Liao1, Meiling Deng1, Terence T. Sio4, Anussara Prayongrat5, Lie Zheng2, Shaoxiong Wu1 & Taixiang Lu1 The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) compared with CCRT alone in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients who presented with cervical nodal necrosis (CNN) is unknown. A total of 792 patients with stage T1-4N1-3M0 NPC and presented with CNN based on magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively reviewed. Propensity score matching method was used to balance treatment arms for baseline characteristics. Eventually, 508 patients were propensity-matched on a 1:1 basis to create two groups (NACT + CCRT and CCRT groups). Survival rates were calculated by Kaplan–Meier method and differences were compared by using the log-rank test. The 5-year disease specific survival, disease-free survival and distant metastasisfree survival were significantly higher in NACT + CCRT group relative to the matched CCRT group (82.1% vs. 72.5%, P = 0.021; 70.3% vs. 54.1%, P
