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Head Neck Oncol. 2009 Jun 15;1(1):18.

Refractory lympho-epithelial carcinoma of the nasopharynx: a case report illustrating a protracted clinical course.

Wu FY, Yang ES, Willey CD, Ely K, Garrett G, Cmelak AJ.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA. anthony.cmelak@vanderbilt.edu.

ABSTRACT: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an uncommon cancer in North America. Its clinical course is typified by locally advanced disease at diagnosis and has a high propensity for both regional and distant spread. It is, therefore, typically treated with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. This report describes our 10-year clinical and radiological findings in a 48-year-old Vietnamese male patient with locally-advanced T4N1M0 lympho-epithelial carcinoma of the nasopharynx. Despite a long remission period after his initial course of aggressive chemoradiation, his tumor recurred locally after 4 years. Thereafter, throughout a period of over 10 years, he has been treated with multiple courses of re-irradiation and three different trials of chemotherapy. He was ultimately provided with over 30 months of progression-free tumor control with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-inhibitor cetuximab. This case illustrates the commonly protracted course of this disease and its responsiveness to multiple treatment modalities.

PMID: 19527509 [PubMed - in process]

PMCID: PMC2704192

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