Introduction:

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare head and neck malignancy in most parts of the world that varies with races and geographical location. The reported incidence of NPC in Indian subcontinent is low compared to other parts of the world except in some ethnic groups in north–eastern region. Most of the patients with NPC present in locally advanced stage; the prognosis as reported in literature being poor. So we conducted this retrospective study to analyze the clinical profile and prognostic outcome to various treatment approaches in NPC in our tertiary care center.

Aim and objectives:

To study the clinical profile and prognostic outcome of NPC in a tertiary care cancer centre in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.

Material and methods:

Patients with histopathologically proven nasopharyngeal carcinoma who attended SVIMS University cancer center from January 2010 to June 2015 were included in the study. All pts were planned to receive EBRT with either conventional 2D technique or 3D–CRT or IMRT and concurrent chemotherapy with cisplatin and adjuvant chemotherapy with 5–FU and cisplatin. Response assessment was started after 2 months post radiotherapy by clinical examination, endoscopy and imaging as appropriate.

Results:

A total of 28 patients reported to radiotherapy OPD presenting with nasopharyngeal mass or neck node were taken into the study. 25 patients were found to have nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 3 patients have lymphoma. Median age of presentation was 49 years (12 – 69 years). Male to female ratio was 1:1.6. Out of 25 patients of NPC, three patients presented with metastatic disease and 22 patients were treated with radical radiotherapy. The two years overall survival (OS) was 36% (median survival time was 14.25 months).

Conclusion:

Most of the patients in our study presented with locally advanced disease whose prognosis is poor in terms of OS as per the literature review. However the two year OS in our study appeared to be more dismal because of poor performance status of patients and relatively small incidence of NPC at our center. IMRT appeared to be the better modality of radiotherapy than conventional 2D and 3D–CRT.