Less is more: role of additional chemotherapy to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer management
- 대한방사선종양학회
- 대한방사선종양학회지
- 제37권 제2호
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2019.0667 - 72 (6 pages)
- 5

Concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) has played the most important and central role in the definitive therapy for the patients with locoregionally advanced stage nasopharynx cancer. The addition of induction chemotherapy (IC) or adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) to CCRT have been widely accepted with the rationale of improving distant control in the clinical practices. This review article investigated the role of IC and AC based on 11 recent meta-analysis publications, and found that the clinical benefits obtained by the additional IC or AC to CCRT, at the cost of the increased risks of more frequent and more severe side effects, seemed not big enough. More intervention is not always better, however, less seems frequently good enough. The author would speculate that ‘less is more’ and would advocate CCRT alone as the current standard.
Introduction
CCRT versus RT Alone
Publications Mainly Focused on Role of IC
Publication Mainly Focused on Role of AC
Publications with Multiple Comparisons Including Both IC and AC
Discussion
Conclusion
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