Stage II Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Current Clinical Trials

Note: Some citations in the text of this section are followed by a level of evidence. The PDQ editorial boards use a formal ranking system to help the reader judge the strength of evidence linked to the reported results of a therapeutic strategy. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Levels of Evidence ¹ for more information.)

Standard treatment options:

1. Chemoradiation therapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, as was used in the INT-0099 ² trial, for example.[1][Level of evidence: 3iiiA] (Patients with parapharyngeal extension were originally staged as T3 in the INT-0099 study and are now considered T2 in the current staging.)

2. High-dose radiation therapy to the primary tumor site and prophylactic radiation therapy to the nodal drainage.[2]

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage II nasopharyngeal cancer ³. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.

General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site ⁴.

References

1. Cheng SH, Tsai SY, Yen KL, et al.: Concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy for early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 18 (10): 2040-5, 2000.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
2. Xiao WW, Han F, Lu TX, et al.: Treatment outcomes after radiotherapy alone for patients with early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 74 (4): 1070-6, 2009.  [PUBMED Abstract]