A single institution experience with pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma: high incidence of toxicity associated with platinum-based chemotherapy plus IMRT.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) have decreased treatment-related complications in adult patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Our aim was to evaluate the toxicity profile of IMRT plus chemotherapy in pediatric NPC patients.

OBSERVATIONS: Five patients were treated with chemotherapy and IMRT. All patients experienced grade 3-4 acute toxicities. With a median follow-up of 6.3 years, all patients experienced >or=3 long-term toxicities. The most common toxicities were hypothyroidism, xerostomia, hearing loss, and dental disease.

CONCLUSIONS: We did not observe a significant decrease in long-term toxicities with IMRT plus chemotherapy in our small cohort of pediatric NPC patients.