Inherently poor survival of elderly patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the features of the elderly patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). MethodsThe medical records of 212 patients with NPC, aged 65 years, and receiving radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Comorbidity was rated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). ResultsTwenty-four patients (11.3%) scored 3 and 188 patients (88.7%) scored <3 rated by CCI. The median actuarial irradiated dose of the nasopharynx was 72 Gy (range, 20-94 Gy) with 87.3% patients receiving >70 Gy. One hundred fifty-four patients had stage III/IV disease. The actuarial local control, cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates at 5 years were 68.8%, 63.5%, and 47.0%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, stage (hazard ratio [HR], 1.489; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.168-1.897; p = .001), the technique of radiotherapy (HR, 0.674; 95% CI, 0.476-0.953; p = .025), and anemia (HR, 3.081; 95% CI, 1.624-5.845; p = .001) were independent prognostic factors. ConclusionThe elderly patients with NPC may inherently predict poor outcomes. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: 771-776, 2015