We prospectively studied the efficacy and safety of hyperfractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (HF-IMRT) and compared to a historical cohort treated with standard fractionation (SF-IMRT) in patients with locally advanced recurrent (rT3-T4, rN0-N1, M0) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Ten patients were treated with induction chemotherapy followed by HF-IMRT (64.8 Gy/54 fr/5.5 weeks) concurrent with weekly cisplatin. They were compared to another ten patients treated with induction chemotherapy followed by SF-IMRT (60 Gy/30 fr/6 weeks) concurrent with weekly cisplatin. After a median follow-up duration of 44.6 months, we demonstrated that the median local failure-free survival (LFFS) showed a trend in favor of HF-IMRT (28.2 vs. 16.6 months, p = 0.164). Overall survival (OS) (34.8 vs. 35.5 months, p = 0.603) was not different between the two groups. Treatment-related hemorrhage was slightly less with HF-IMRT (30.0 vs. 0 %), reaching marginal significance (p = 0.060). Judging from our study results, HF-IMRT offered a marginally better LFFS and an apparently more favorable toxicity profile compared to SF-IMRT in locally advanced recurrent NPC.
Keywords: Hyperfractionation; Intensity-modulated radiation therapy; Locally advanced recurrence; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Re-irradiation; Standard fractionation.