Clinical Progress of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Locoregionally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is the foundational standard-of-care for patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LANPC). Adding adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) or induction chemotherapy (IC) to CCRT has been shown to benefit LANPC patients. During recent five years, large numbers of prospective randomized controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the superior efficacy of IC+CCRT than CCRT alone in LANPC patients. However, prospectively designed studies concerned with AC are limited. The efficacy of CCRT+AC in treating LANPC remains unclear. For better understanding and more properly clinical usages of AC, we reviewed the studies of CCRT+AC in the treatments for LANPC patients. In summary, adding AC to CCRT is a feasible therapeutic strategy for patients with EBV positive LANPC.