Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2025 Oct 16:229:115749.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2025.115749. Epub 2025 Sep 2.

A multicenter retrospective analysis of recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer from non-endemic areas: Results in the pre-immunotherapy era

A Alberti  1 , C Gurizzan  2 , C Resteghini  3 , A Trama  4 , A Bernasconi  4 , S Grisanti  1 , M Zamparini  1 , I Mohamad  5 , I Linares Galiana  6 , E Ozyar  7 , P Franco  8 , S Vecchio  9 , P Bonomo  10 , B Cirauqui  11 , M El-Sherify  12 , S Ursino  13 , A Argiris  14 , J Pan  14 , C Wittekindt  15 , E D'Angelo  16 , L Costa  17 , M Buglione  17 , J M Johnson  14 , M Airoldi  18 , R Mesia  11 , L Licitra  19 , E Orlandi  20 , Paolo Bossi  3 ; Nasopharyngeal Cancer Portal Group of Investigators
Affiliations
Observational Study

A multicenter retrospective analysis of recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer from non-endemic areas: Results in the pre-immunotherapy era

A Alberti et al. Eur J Cancer. .

Abstract

Aim of the study: The aim of the study is to describe clinical features, treatment approach and outcomes of recurrent/metastatic (R/M) NPC in non-endemic areas MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational, retrospective and multicenter study was conducted within 36 referral hospital in non-endemic areas including Europe, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and United States of America. All NPC patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2016 and with a minimum 12 months of follow-up were included. Data entry started in January 2018 and closed in December 2023.

Results: A total of 454 patients with R/M NPC were included in this analysis. The most frequent histology was non-keratinizing carcinoma (87 %); de novo metastatic patients had an EBV-related disease in 93 % of the cases. Among those with relapsed disease, locoregional recurrence was the most frequent site of recurrence, while bone was the principal site of metastatic dissemination (58 % of cases). Regarding treatment strategies, patients with loco-regional relapse received re-irradiation more frequently than salvage surgery (43 % vs 38 %). Overall, most of the patients with R/M disease received at least one line of systemic therapy. Median PFS was 13 months, while the median OS was 30 months (range 1-180) with a three year-OS rate of 47 %.

Conclusions: This study reports the largest available clinical data defining the outcome of non-endemic patients with R/M NPC. In the context of rare cancers, these data represent the benchmark to define new therapeutic strategies and confirms a similar behaviour of NPC between endemic and non-endemic NPC when correlated with EBV status.

Keywords: Nasopharyngeal cancer; Non-endemic areas; Pre-immunotherapy outcomes; Recurrence/metastasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: PB reported the following conflict of interests in the past 3 years: Participation to advisory board or conference honoraria for Merck, Sanofi-Regeneron, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sun Pharma, Angelini, Nestlè, Elevar. LL reported the following conflict of interests in the past 3 years: Research funds donated directly to the institution for clinical trials I have participated in from: Adlai Nortye, Astrazeneca, BMS, Debiopharm International SA, Eisai, Eli Lilly and Company, Exelixis, Hoffmann-La Roche ltd, Isa Therapeutics, Kura Oncology, Merck-Serono, MSD, Merck Sharp&Dome Corp, Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi, Syneos, Sun Pharmaceutica. Occasional fees for participation as a speaker at conferences/congresses or as a scientific consultant for advisory boards from: Adlai Nortye, Astrazeneca, Bicara Therapeutics, DRG (part of Clarivate), Genmab US, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Mirati Therapeutics, MSD, Merck-Serono, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Neutron Therapeutics Inc, Seagen International BmbH. All other authors reported no conflict of interest.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources