Dose-response relationship of nasopharyngeal carcinoma above conventional tumoricidal level: a study by the Hong Kong nasopharyngeal carcinoma study group (HKNPCSG).

Background And Purpose: To define the dose-response relationship of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) above the conventional tumoricidal dose level of 66 Gy when the basic radiotherapy (RT) course was given by the 2D Ho's technique.

Patients And Methods: Data from all five regional cancer centers in Hong Kong were pooled for this retrospective study. All patients (n = 2426) were treated with curative-intent RT with or without chemotherapy between 1996 and 2000 with the basic RT course using the Ho's technique.

Nasopharyngeal intracavitary brachytherapy: the controversy of T2b disease.

Background: Locally persistent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) carries an increased risk of local failure if additional treatment is not given. It has been shown that intracavitary brachytherapy is effective in the treatment of patients with T1 and T2a NPC, although its role in the treatment of T2b disease had remained uncertain. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the outcomes of patients with T2b, locally persistent NPC who were treated with high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy and to explore whether routine brachytherapy boost could improve the local control of patients who had T2b NPC at initial diagnosis.

Treatment results of 1070 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: an analysis of survival and failure patterns.

Background: The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated primarily by external beam irradiation (ERT) and to explore for possible ways to improve the treatment results.

Methods: One thousand seventy patients with nonmetastatic NPC treated from 1990 to 1998 were retrospectively analyzed. The distribution according to the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (UICC) (1997 edition) staging system at initial diagnosis was as follows: stage I, n = 113; stage IIA, n = 38; stage IIB, n = 360; stage III, n = 306; stage IVA, n = 136; stage IVB, n = 117; T1, n = 284; T2a, n = 88; T2b, n = 398; T3, n = 149; T4, n = 151; N0, n = 321; N1, n = 393; N2, n = 238; N3a, n = 29; N3b, n = 89.

Treatment results of high-dose-rate remote afterloading brachytherapy for cervical cancer and retrospective comparison of two regimens.

Purpose: To review the treatment results and complications of high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy for patients with carcinoma of the cervix in a single institute and to compare them with those of low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy reported in the literature.

Methods And Materials: Two hundred twenty patients with carcinoma of the cervix were treated by primary radiotherapy between 1991 and 1998. The median age was 63 (range 24-84).

High dose rate brachytherapy for early stage oral tongue cancer.

Background: High dose rate (HDR) interstitial brachytherapy of the oral tongue is a new treatment modality. Our study evaluates the outcomes of patients with early stage oral tongue cancer as treated by HDR interstitial implant.

Methods: We reviewed the records of 19 patients who were seen between 1994 and 2000 with carcinoma of the oral tongue and whose primary tumors were treated solely with interstitial implant using HDR remote afterloading technique.

Pregnancy outcome following radiotherapy for naso-pharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma complicating pregnancy is uncommon, and its treatment with irradiation is problematical, as the irradiation risks in pregnancy have not been well defined. In this paper, we described a pregnant patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who received irradiation treatment during the pregnancy. The management and the risk of irradiation are discussed.