Multivariate analysis of factors associated with tumor control.

<p>Abbreviations: HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; CCRT, concurrent chemoradiotherapy; RTT, radiotherapy treatment time; ΔRTT, RTT minus time scheduled for the patient to complete the prescribed course of radiotherapy.</p><p>Multivariate analysis of factors associated with tumor control.</p

Histogram of (A) radiation treatment time and (B) interrupted time according to whether or not patients experienced disease failure.

<p>Histogram of (A) radiation treatment time and (B) interrupted time according to whether or not patients experienced disease failure.</p

Progression free survival (PFS), Loco-regional failure-free survival (LRFS) and distant failure-free (DFFS) as function of number of RTT for NPC patients.

<p>(A-C): RTT ≤ 43 days vs. RTT > 43 days; (D-F): RTT ≤ 44 days vs. RTT > 44 days; (G-I): RTT ≤ 47 days vs. RTT > 47 days. (All P values > 0.05).</p

Univariate analysis of factors associated with tumor control.

<p>Abbreviations: CCRT, concurrent chemoradiotherapy; RTT, radiotherapy treatment time; ΔRTT, RTT minus time scheduled for the patient to complete the prescribed course of radiotherapy.</p><p>Univariate analysis of factors associated with tumor control.</p

Kaplan–Meier estimates of overall survival between patients with locoregional recurrence and those with distant recurrence.

<p>Kaplan–Meier estimates of overall survival between patients with locoregional recurrence and those with distant recurrence.</p

Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival in a cohort of 87 metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with or without recurrence after definitive radiotherapy.

<p>Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival in a cohort of 87 metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with or without recurrence after definitive radiotherapy.</p

Different Prognostic Values of Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA and Maximal Standardized Uptake Value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients with Recurrence

<div><p>Purpose</p><p>To evaluate and compare the prognostic value of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA and maximal standard uptake values (SUV_max) of ¹⁸F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG-PET) in subgroups of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients with locoregional or distant recurrence.</p><p>Patients and Methods</p><p>A total of 194 patients with recurrent NPC (locoregional recurrence: 107, distant recurrence: 87) were enrolled. Patients took evidence of recurrence performed with ¹⁸F-FDG-PET and an EBV DNA test before salvage treatment. Clinical parameters, the status of EBV DNA and the value of SUV_max were used for survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards regression model.</p><p>Results</p><p>In the subgroup of patients with locoregional recurrence, patients with SUV_max<8.65 had significantly better overall survival (OS) (P=0.005) compared with the patients with SUV_max ≥8.65. However, both elevated EBV DNA load (≥21,100 copies/ml) and distant SUV_max (≥13.55) were significantly associated with worse OS compared with the patients with EBV DNA <21,100 copies/ml or distant SUV_max <13.55 for the subgroup with distant recurrence (P=0.015 and P=0.006, respectively). The predictive ability of EBV DNA was superior to that of SUV_max (P=0.062). Multivariate analysis showed that SUV_max was only an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with locoregional recurrence (P=0.042), whereas EBV DNA independently predicted OS for the patients with distant recurrence (P=0.007). For those patients with undetectable EBV DNA, SUV_max<8.65 was still an independent favorable prognostic factor (P=0.038).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>SUV_max is a useful biomarker for predicting OS in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with locoregional recurrence or with undetectable EBV DNA. Both distant SUV_max and EBV DNA appear to be independent predictors of OS in patients with distant recurrence; however, the predictive ability of EBV DNA was superior to that of SUV_max.</p></div

Flowchart of patients enrolled in this study.

<p>Flowchart of patients enrolled in this study.</p

Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival in a cohort of 107 recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after definitive radiotherapy.

<p>Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival in a cohort of 107 recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after definitive radiotherapy.</p

Kaplan–Meier estimates of overall survival according to the distant SUV_max or the plasma EBV DNA concentration in distant recurrent patients.

<p>Kaplan–Meier estimates of overall survival according to the distant SUV_max or the plasma EBV DNA concentration in distant recurrent patients.</p