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High dose rate brachytherapy boost for primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma: preliminary results of an ongoing prospective study


Bulletin du Cancer. Volume 92, Number 7, 10045-50, Juillet - Août 2005, Electronic journal of oncology


Summary  

Author(s) : Rohit Malde, Jai Prakash Agarwal, Sarbani Ghosh Laskar, Tejpal Gupta, Ketayun Dinshaw , Department of Radiation Oncology, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, 118, Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr Ernest Borges Marg, Parel, Mumbai 400012, India, Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC, Navi Mumbai, India.

Summary : Background: The exact role of brachytherapy boost in primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is yet to be completely elucidated. We conducted this prospective study to evaluate outcome of patients with NPC treated with high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) boost, following radical external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with or without chemotherapy. Methods: Between 1998 and 2003, 10 patients of primary NPC were prospectively considered for HDR-BT boost. Median EBRT dose was 66 Gy (range: 60-70 Gy). Median HDR-BT boost dose was 12 Gy (range: 5-14 Gy) given in 1-4 fractions. Results: At a median follow-up of 28 months (range: 5-66 months), the local control rate was 90%. Two patients developed distant metastases and one patient developed a second primary in the lower alveolus. The 3-year disease free survival rate was 60%. Grade III mucositis developed in 2 (20%) patients. Conclusions: HDR-BT is an efficacious boost modality with acceptable morbidity in selected patients with NPC.

Keywords : brachytherapy, high dose rate, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Rotterdams’ silicone nasopharyngeal applicator

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ARTICLE

Auteur(s) : Rohit Malde1, Jai Prakash Agarwal1, Sarbani Ghosh Laskar1, Tejpal Gupta2, Ketayun Dinshaw1

1Department of Radiation Oncology, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, 118, Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr Ernest Borges Marg, Parel, Mumbai 400012, India
2Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC, Navi Mumbai, India

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a distinct entity amongst head and neck cancers, in terms of its epidemiology, pathology, clinical features, treatment and outcome. It has a high incidence in several areas in southern China, especially in the Cantonese region around Guangzhou, where the incidence is approximately 30-80/100,000 population per year [1]. Other areas of high incidence include Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and the Mediterranean region (Maghreb and Malta). In India, NPC constitute less than 1% of all head and neck cancers [2]. A majority present with advanced stages [2]. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), nasopharyngeal carcinoma is of three types: keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (WHO type 1); nonkeratinizing carcinoma (WHO type 2) and undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type (WHO type 3). The standard treatment for primary NPC is radical radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, as surgery is generally not feasible due to the peculiar location of the nasopharynx. This anatomic site lies in close proximity to critical structures such as the spinal cord, optic apparatus, pituitary gland, hypothalamus and the temporal lobes, which could lead to significant morbidity. Although NPC are relatively radiosensitive tumors, they are one of the most technically difficult sites within the head and neck region to treat.Treatment with radiotherapy alone results in local control rates between 85-90% for early stage disease (T1-2, N0) and 44-71% for advanced stage disease (T3-4, N+) [3]. Advanced NPC have a higher incidence of distant metastases compared to other head and neck cancers ranging from 17 to 48% [3]. Despite high initial complete response rates, a significant proportion of patients relapse locally [4]. In an attempt to improve local control and reduce distant metastases, chemotherapy has been combined with radiotherapy with encouraging results. The Intergroup trial demonstrated a significant reduction in local and distant relapses resulting in an improved 3-year overall and progression-free survival using concomitant and adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy [5]. Local control has also been shown to be an independent marker of distant metastasis [6]. Escalation of the radiation dose is an attractive option for improving local control of primary disease. The rationale for this approach is based on a general trend towards improved local control with higher doses of radiation as shown in several retrospective studies [7-9]. Dose escalation has been accomplished using both external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy (BT). Delivering a higher radiation dose to the nasopharynx using conventional EBRT techniques could result in excessive morbidity such as trismus, osteoradionecrosis, visual impairment, brain necrosis, decreased hearing, radiation caries and severe dry mouth. However with sophisticated, high precision techniques such as 3-Dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy (SRS/SRT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), this task can be achieved with acceptable toxicity [10, 11].Brachytherapy has the advantage of rapid dose fall off, which enables the radiation oncologist to deliver a higher tumor dose while sparing the nearby critical dose-limiting structures. The ingenuity of clinical researchers to treat this secluded anatomical midline structure by brachytherapy is exemplified by the numerous technical endeavors in the form of transpalatal interstitial implantation with gold grains or iodine125 seeds and different intracavitary applicators using 137Cesium, 60Cobalt, 192Iridium with either low dose or high dose rate (HDR) systems. Recent developments in BT such as pulsed dose rate and HDR computerized afterloaders, and sophisticated treatment planning systems with optimization capabilities, have even further encouraged the evolution of intracavitary BT afterloading techniques [7]. Whereas BT has an established role in the treatment of locally recurrent and persistent disease [12-14], its benefit as an adjuvant boost following EBRT has not been completely elucidated.At the Tata Memorial Hospital, since 1998 with the availability of Rotterdam silicone nasopharyngeal applicator (RSNA) we have attempted to deliver an intracavitary boost with HDR for carefully selected patients with NPC. We report our prospective preliminary experience of this technique in 10 patients with primary NPC.

Methods and materials

Between 1998 and 2003, 10 patients diagnosed with primary NPC were prospectively evaluated for the HDR-BT boost following radical EBRT with or without chemotherapy. Patients with complete clinical response at the nodal site and either a complete response or good partial response at the primary site were considered suitable for HDR-BT and included in this study. Pretreatment evaluation of all patients consisted of a complete history and physical examination, including nasopharyngeal endoscopy followed by a biopsy, complete blood counts, liver and renal function tests, chest x-ray, imaging of the nasopharynx and the neck with either computerized tomography scan (CT scan) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dental evaluation. All patients were staged according to the 1997 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging classification [15]. Following EBRT, response was assessed clinically and selected patients scheduled for HDR-BT.

EBRT

All patients were simulated and planned in a customized thermoplastic mask in the supine position. EBRT was delivered using Cobalt-60 or 6 MV photons with bilateral parallel-opposed portals with appropriate shielding. The spinal cord was shielded after 46 Gy/ 23# and posterior neck electron boost was used whenever indicated. The total dose of EBRT thus delivered was 60-70 Gy/30-35 #/6-7 weeks (median 66 Gy).

Chemotherapy

Patients with early stage NPC (stage I and II) were treated with radical radiotherapy alone (n = 2) or concomitant cisplatin based chemoradiotherapy (n = 3). Patients with advanced NPC (stage III and IV) were treated with 2-3 cycles of cisplatin based neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy.

HDR-BT

Two to four weeks after completion of EBRT, patients were assessed for a brachytherapy boost. HDR-BT was delivered with an 192Iridium afterloading unit (microSelectron HDR, Nucletron). The technique of HDR-BT and the prescription dose to the nasopharynx point were employed as described by Levendag et al. [16]. Briefly, under sedation and topical anesthesia, a pair of infant feeding tubes were inserted as guide tubes, one through each nostril into the nasopharynx and pulled out gently through the mouth using MacGill’s forceps. The lubricated RSNA was then inserted intra-orally over these guide tubes and pulled through the nostrils so that it fitted snugly in the nasopharyngeal space. The patient was then simulated supine with head in neutral position, lead markers on the lateral canthi and tragus and dummies in the tubes. After determining the length to be treated, various points (tumor points as well as normal points) described by Levendag were marked on orthogonal films and dose prescribed to the nasopharyngeal point (( figure 1 )). Dose point optimization was employed to achieve satisfactory dose distribution. Typically, two HDR fractions separated by at least 6 hours were delivered each day for 2 consecutive days with a total dose of 14 Gy in 4 fractions (4-3-3-4 Gy). The median dose delivered with HDR-BT was 12 Gy (range: 5-14 Gy in 1-4 fractions)

Follow-up

After the completion of radiotherapy, all patients were evaluated every 3 months for the first year, every 6 months for the next 3 years and annually thereafter. At each follow up visit, a complete physical examination, including direct and/or indirect nasopharyngeal endoscopy was performed. A baseline post-treatment CT/MRI imaging of the nasopharynx and the neck was obtained at first follow-up and was performed subsequently only if clinically indicated. The acute and the late effects were graded according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) radiation morbidity scoring criteria [17].

Statistical methods

Descriptive statistics (mean, median and proportions) were calculated to characterize the patient, disease and treatment related factors. The duration of time to loco-regional failure and distant metastasis was calculated from the last date of brachytherapy until documented treatment failure. The duration of overall survival was also calculated from the date of brachytherapy until death or until the last follow-up date for those patients still alive. The disease free survival (DFS) was calculated using the Kaplan Meier method.

Results

The patient and treatment characteristics of the 10 patients treated with HDR-BT are shown in tables 1 and 2( Table 1 )( Table 2 ) respectively. The median age at presentation was 49 years (range 17-66 years). Six (60%) patients presented with T1-T2 disease, whereas the other 4 (40%) had T3-T4 stage. Eight (80%) patients had clinical cervical lymphadenopathy. The majority (60%) of these were squamous carcinomas whereas undifferentiated carcinomas of nasopharyngeal type (WHO type 3) constituted the other 40%. None of the patients had distant metastases at presentation.

Patterns of failure

Of the 10 patients treated, 6 patients were found to be disease-free and alive at the last evaluation. Of the remaining 4 patients, one patient who initially had an incidental premalignant lesion (leukoplakia) developed a second primary in the lower alveolus 8 months following treatment of the primary NPC, another patient had persistent local disease even after brachytherapy, while 2 other patients developed distant metastases in the lung and bones respectively. The former two patients succumbed following progression of the disease and the latter 2 patients are undergoing palliative chemotherapy. With a median follow up of 28 months (range 5-66 months), the local control was 90%. The estimated 3-year disease-free survival was 60% (( figure 2 )).
Table 1 Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: patient characteristics

Patient characteristics

Patients (nb)

Age (years)

≤ 50 years

6

> 50 years

4

Sex

Male

7

Female

3

Tumor Status

T1-2

6

T3-4

4

Nodal Status

Node positive

8

Node negative

2


Table 2 Radiotherapy schedule (EBRT + HDR-BT) schedule used in NPC

EBRT dose

Median 66 Gy (range 60-70 Gy)

Interval between EBRT and HDR-BT

Median 34 days (range 6-102 days)

HDR-BT total dose

Median 12 Gy (range 5-14 Gy)

HDR-BT dose per fraction

3-5 Gy

Number of HDR-BT fractions

1-4 fractions

Acute and late toxicity

All the patients tolerated external radiotherapy fairly well with the most common acute side effects being mucositis. There were only 2 patients who developed RTOG grade-III mucositis. There was no grade III-IV hematological toxicity in patients who had received either neoadjuvant or concurrent chemoradiotherapy. All patients completed treatment without significant delay due to toxicity. In terms of late toxicity, the most common side effect was mild to moderate xerostomia which was seen in almost all our patients. There were no significant late toxicities directly attributable to brachytherapy except one patient who had persistent crust formation in the nasal mucosa.

Discussion

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas due to their peculiar location are an interesting and challenging site for any radiation oncologist to deliver an adequate tumoricidal dose without causing excessive complications. In an attempt to improve the local control, various investigators have performed dose escalation studies with both external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. Due to the rapid dose fall-off, nasopharyngeal brachytherapy has the capability to deliver high tumor dose with minimal dose to the surrounding healthy critical tissues. Reports in literature on the adjuvant use of brachytherapy in primary NPC are generally retrospective [7, 12, 18-24] consisting of a small cohort of patients with heterogenous tumors and treatment parameters with variable follow up periods (table 3( Table 3 )). Lack of any prospective randomized trials makes it difficult to reach a definitive conclusion regarding the role of adjuvant brachytherapy in this group of patients. Despite these limitations, there seems to exist a dose response relationship with adjuvant brachytherapy, above the conventional radical doses of 66-70 Gy, as shown by some authors [17, 18, 25].

Improved results with brachytherapy were first reported in China in 1980 by Chang et al. [24]. A significant benefit in terms of local control and survival at 5 years was reported when low dose rate brachytherapy was added to conventional external radiotherapy. Teo et al. [18] clearly showed the existence of a dose response relationship above the conventional tumoricidal dose. Patients with early stage NPC (T1-2) were treated with external RT 60 Gy followed by HDR boost 18-24 Gy in 3 fractions. Of the 163 patients treated, there were 101 patients with persistent disease at 4-6 weeks after EBRT. These patients were compared with a similar cohort of patients (n = 346) treated with EBRT alone. The authors observed a 5-year actuarial local control rate of 94.5% for patients treated with adjuvant brachytherapy compared to 89.7% for patients treated with EBRT alone. They concluded by stating that supplementing EBRT with adjuvant brachytherapy with an uncorrected BED ≥ 75 Gy would significantly enhance the ultimate local control with minimal and manageable toxicity such as ulceration and necrosis.

Recently, Lu et al. [25] in a prospective protocol of newly diagnosed T1-2 staged NPC treated 16 patients with EBRT (66Gy) and concurrent cisplatin based chemotherapy followed by adjuvant cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. HDR-BT boost of 10 Gy was delivered in 2 weekly fractions after the completion of EBRT. At a median follow-up of 18 months, 15/16 (93.8%) patients were loco-regionally controlled. In a recent update the authors reported on 33 consecutive and nonselected patients with T1-2 NPC, including the 16 patients from their preliminary report. At a median follow-up of 29 months (range 17-38), one patient (3%) had persistent local disease; one patient (3%) had pathologically confirmed local recurrence. In addition, one patient (3%) developed a neck node followed by distant metastasis, and two patients (6%) developed distant metastasis without locoregional relapse. The 2-year local control rate at the primary site was 93.6%, and the overall survival and disease free survival rates were 82% and 74%, respectively [26]. Ten patients (30%) developed grade 3 acute and/or late toxicity, and six patients (18%) developed grade 4 acute and/or late toxicity. No grade 5 toxicity occurred.

Our 3-year local control rate and DFS was 90% and 60%, respectively which seems to be comparable with the published data. There was only one patient with persistent local disease. The remaining 9 patients are locally controlled. There was only 1 patient with persistent soreness and crust formation in the nasal mucosa due to synechiae formation which responded to topical emollients. All other patients tolerated adjuvant brachytherapy well with no major toxicity. Patients with early stage disease and selected patients with advanced stage disease with remarkable response to combined chemo-radiotherapy can be treated with adjuvant brachytherapy. T4 disease with intracranial extension or significant parapharyngeal extension may not be a good situation for brachytherapy because of the risk of tumor underdosage and/or major complications. In the latter case, dose escalation in the form of IMRT or SRS/SRT boost may be helpful in improving outcome [10, 11].
Table 3 Literature review of primary NPC treated with HDR-BT boost

Author [Ref]

T- Stage

Dose (Gy)

Chemo-therapy

5-yr local control

5-yr survival

EBRT

Brachytherapy

Chang [20] 1996

T1-2 (133)

64.8-68.4 Gy

HDR: 5-16.5 Gy/ 1-3 # @ 2 cm off axis

Nil

< 72.5 Gy : 73%

72%

72.5-75Gy: 94%

92%

> 75 Gy : 79%

77%

Slevin [22] 1997

  • T1 = 1, T2 = 4
  • T3 = 3


45-60 Gy

HDR: 5-7.5Gy/ 1#

Nil

87% (3y)

  • 37% (3y DFS)
  • 75% (3y OS)


Levendag [7] 1998

  • T1 = 3, T2 = 9
  • T3 = 17, T4 = 13


  • T1-3 = 60 Gy
  • T4 = 70 Gy


  • T1-3: 18Gy/6 #
  • T4: 16Gy/4 #
  • @ 1 cm off-axis


1 (2.5%)

86% (3y)

71% (3y DFS)

Syed [12] 2000

  • T1 = 1, T2 = 4
  • T3 = 6, T4 = 4


50-60 Gy

HDR Implant: 33-37 Gy

5 (33%)

59%

  • 74% (5y DFS)
  • 61% (5y OS)


Teo [18] 2000

  • T1 = 74
  • T2 = 89


60 Gy

HDR:18-24 Gy / 3# @ 1cm off-axis

10 (6%)

93%

88% (5y DFS)

De Nittis [23] 2002

T1-T3 = 11

  • 64-70 Gy
  • (66 Gy median)


HDR: 6-15 Gy / 1-2 # @ 0.5 cm

11 (100%)

100% (3y)

100% (3y OS)

Lee [19] 2002

  • T1 = 21, T2 = 18
  • T3 = 4


54-72 Gy

HDR 5-7Gy/1-2 # LDR: 10-54 Gy.

17 (40%)

89%

  • 75% (5y DFS)
  • 86% (5y OS)


Levendag [17] 2002

  • T1 = 7, T2 = 39
  • T3 = 11, T4 = 14


60-70 Gy

HDR: 11-18 Gy / 4-6 # @ 1 cm off axis

20 (41%)

  • I-IIB: 100% (2y)
  • III-IVB: 86% (2y)


  • I-IIB: 90% (2y DFS)
  • 61% (2y OS)
  • III-IVB:74% (2y DFS)
  • 66% (2y OS)


Ozyar [21] 2002

  • T1 = 45, T2 = 32
  • T3 = 13, T4 = 16


58-71 Gy (65.4 Gy median)

HDR: 12 Gy/3 # @ 1 cm off-axis

55 (51%)

86% (3y)

  • 76% (3y CSS)
  • 67% (3y DFS)


Lu [26] 2004

  • T1 = 22
  • T = 11


70 Gy

HDR: 10 Gy/2 # @ 1 cm off axis

33 (100%)

93.6% (2y)

  • 74% (2y DFS)
  • 82% (2 y OS)


  • TMH
  • Present study


  • T1-2 = 6
  • T3-4 = 4


60-70 Gy

HDR: 5-14 Gy / 1-4 # @ 1 cm off axis

8 (80%)

90% (3y)

60% (3y DFS)

Conclusion

The small number of patients in our report precludes any definitive conclusions. Nevertheless it appears that HDR-BT following radical EBRT with or without chemotherapy is an efficacious boost modality with acceptable morbidity in a select group of patients with NPC. Our patterns of failure suggest that further adjuvant chemotherapy following completion of concurrent chemoradiation could also be considered for patients at high risk of distant relapse. However this strategy requires to be tested and validated in large prospective randomized control trials before its routine application in the clinic.

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