The Value of Tumor Diameter in Predicting Prognosis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Treated with Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy

Objective The tumor, node, and metastasis staging system of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has limitations in predicting prognosis. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic value of tumor diameter for patients with NPC who were treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. Subjects and Methods The cases of 137 NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Tumor diameter was measured on pretreatment magnetic resonance images. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to find the optimal cutoff value of tumor diameter and to examine the predictive ability of tumor diameter combined with T classification. Results The mean tumor diameter increased with the advancing of T classification. The 5-year cumulative survival rates for patients with a tumor diameter