Association between stage and histopathological type of nasopharyngeal cancer on occurrence of postirradiation otitis media with effusion

Introduction: Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), 6.2 out of 100,000 population/year. Radiotherapy is one of the main treatment options for NPC. Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the most common ear complication of radiotherapy for NPC patients. Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between the stage and histopathological type of NPC on the occurrence of OME. Method: This study used a cross-sectional method, data were taken retrospectively from medical records based on inclusion and exclusion criteria for the period January 2015-December 2019. Results: 131 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were 87 men and 44 women, with the largest age range being 46-55 years (49%). Most (51%) had stage III NPC, followed by stage IV A by 28%. The histopathological type is mostly undifferentiated non-keratinized NPC in 90 patients (69%) and 34 patients with differentiated nonkeratinized types (26%). The association between stage (p(1)) and histopathological type (p(2)) of NPC with the incidence of OME after radiotherapy showed insignificant results (p(1) = 0.272 and p(2) = 0.101). Conclusion: Otitis media with effusion in post irradiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients occurred in 18.3%. Postirradiation OME generally occurs in men with the age range of 46-55 years, NPC stage III and non-keratinizing undifferentiated histopathological type. There was no significant association between stage and histopathological type of NPC with the occurrence of postirradiation OME. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Surgical Associates Ltd.