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.