Effects of chemotherapy on survival prognosis of patients with distant metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma:a retrospective cohort study

QIN Yangda; LI Min; WANG Yongli; HUANG Bo; XIE Sifang; WENG Jingjin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-3806.2025.11.15

Abstract：Objective To analyze the effects of chemotherapy on survival prognosis of patients with distant metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data and follow-up data of 187 patients with distant metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were admitted to the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from June 2010 to June 2019.Among them,100 patients were willing to receive chemotherapy(chemotherapy group),and 87 patients abandoned chemotherapy(non-chemotherapy group).The effects of factors such as metastatic sites,chemotherapy regimens and chemotherapy cycles on the patients' survival prognosis were analyzed by using survival curve and Cox regression.Results By January 2020,82 patients in the non-chemotherapy group and 70 patients in the chemotherapy group died.The survival prognosis of the patients in the chemotherapy group was significantly better than that of the patients in the non-chemotherapy group(log-rank test:x2=9.565,P=0.002).For the patients receiving chemotherapy,the results of multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that,with lung metastasis as a reference,liver metastasis[RR(95％CI)=2.823(1.284-6.210)]and multiple metastases[RR(95％CI)=3.920(2.118-7.255)]were independent risk factors for poor survival prognosis in them(P＜0.05);with chemotherapy cycles ≤4 cycles as a reference,chemotherapy cycles＞4 cycles[RR(95％CI)=0.276(0.142-0.536)]were independent protective factors for promoting better survival prognosis in them(P＜0.05).Conclusion Chemotherapy can significantly improve the survival prognosis of patients with distant metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Metastatic site and chemotherapy cycle are important factors affecting the patients' survival prognosis.