Background: The standard treatment of local advanced nasopharyngeal cancer is chemoradiotherapy. Thereis a lack of data concerning induction therapy. In this study we retrospectively examined patients treated withinduction therapy and chemoradiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancerpatients treated between 1996 and 2013 in our clinic were included in the study. Three different induction regimenswere administered to our patients in different time periods. The regimen dosages were: CF regimen, cisplatin50mg/m2 1-2 days, fluorouracil 500mg/m2 1-5 days; DC, docetaxel 75mg/m2 1 day, cisplatin 75mg/m2 1 day; andDCF, docetaxel 75mg/m2 1 day, cisplatin 75mg/m2 1 day, 5-Fu 750mg/m2 1-5 days. Most of the patients were stageIII (36.4%) and stage IV (51.7%). Results: Median follow-up time was 50 months (2-201 months). Three-yearprogression-free survival (PFS) was 79.3%, and 5-year PFS 72.4% in all patients. Three-year overall survival(OS) was 87.4% and 5-year OS 76% in all patients. In terms of induction therapies, 3-year OS was 96.5% in theDCF group, 86.6% in the DC group and 76.3% in the CF group (p=0.03). Conclusions: There was no significantdifferences in response rate and PFS between the three regimens. OS in the DCF group was significantly higherthan in the other groups. However, this study was retrospective and limited toxicity data were available; thefindings therefore need to be interpreted with care.
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