Local Radiotherapy Versus Nonradiotherapy to Distant Lesions for Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Retrospective Cohort Study

Background To evaluate the efficiency of local radiotherapy to metastatic lesions in patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (mNPC). Methods The overall survival was observed and compared for mNPC patients who received local radiotherapy versus nonradiotherapy to metastatic lesions by using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox analysis. Results One hundred and nine patients with NPC were involved in this study, with 61 (56.0%) received radiotherapy to metastatic sites and 48 (44.0%) did not receive radiotherapy to metastatic sites. The 2- and 5-year OS for patients who received local radiotherapy to metastatic lesions were 65.8% and 35.7%, and for patients who did not receive radiotherapy to metastatic lesions were 45.3% and 26.2%. The multivariable adjusted hazard radios for local radiotherapy versus nonradiotherapy to metastatic lesions were 0.482 (95% confidence interval is 0.278-0.834, p = 0.009). Conclusions Local radiotherapy to metastatic lesions might be a protective factor for patients with mNPC.