Establishment and validation of a novel nomogram to predict overall survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis

Background The aim of the present study was to establish and validate a nomogram to predict the overall survival (OS) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM). Methods A novel nomogram was constructed using 863 patients with LNM-positive NPC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Significant prognostic factors in the nomograms were determined using multivariate Cox risk analysis. The predictive capability was evaluated using calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results Multivariate analysis identified seven factors that could be used to construct the nomogram: age, pathological type, T stage, M stage, surgery of primary site, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The calibration curves and DCA demonstrated optimal agreement. Based on the nomogram, all patients could be stratified into three risk groups: low, middle, and high. Conclusions The novel nomogram demonstrated its potential as an individualized tool to predict OS.