Effect of interrupted time during intensity modulated radiation therapy on survival outcomes in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of interrupted time (IT) during intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) on survival outcomes in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC).

Materials And Methods: 515 NPC patients receiving IMRT between January 2007 and December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. The association of IT with loco-regional failure-free survival (LRFS), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis.

Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without adjuvant chemotherapy for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: meta-analysis of 1,096 patients from 11 randomized controlled trials.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (the treatment group) versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without adjuvant chemotherapy (the control group) for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Methods: The search strategy included Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Internet Web, Chinese Biomedical Database and Wanfang Database. We also searched reference lists of articles and the volumes of abstracts of scientific meetings.

(18)FDG-PET/CT for detecting distant metastases and second primary cancers in patients with head and neck cancer. A meta-analysis.

We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)FDG-PET/CT) in detecting distant metastases and second primary cancers in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) at staging. Studies about (18)FDG-PET/CT for detecting distant metastases and second primary cancers in patients with HNC were systematically searched in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and EBM Review databases from January 1, 2000 to March 1, 2011. A software called "Meta-DiSc" was used to obtain pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratios, summary receiver operating characteristic curves, and Q* index.

Accuracy of whole-body PET and PET-CT in initial M staging of head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis.

Background: A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-CT in initial M staging of head and neck cancer.

Methods: After a systematic review of English language studies, sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of whole-body PET and PET-CT were pooled. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were also used to summarize overall test performance.