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Spreafico, Anna; Winquist, Eric; Ho, Cheryl; O’Sullivan, Brian; Bouganim, Nathaniel; Chua, Neil; Doucette, Sarah; Siu, Lillian L.; Hao, Desiree

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

Although the majority of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) present with early-stage or locoregional disease that can be treated with definitive radiotherapy, approximately 20% of patients experience disease recurrence, and 15% present with metastatic disease that is not amenable to curative therapy. Management of patients with recurrent or metastatic (r/m) NPC who are not candidates for local salvage therapy is challenging in Canada, as there is uncertainty in extrapolating evidence that is largely generated from Southeast China to non-endemic regions such as Canada. Currently, treatment options in Canada are limited to chemotherapy regimens that can only achieve short-term response and prolongation of survival. The addition of anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies to chemotherapy has been shown to extend progression-free survival in recurrent r/m NPC compared to chemotherapy alone; however, approval of PD-1 inhibitors in Canada has lagged behind other jurisdictions where NPC is non-endemic. This paper reviews the current systemic treatment landscape for r/m NPC in Canada, highlights unmet treatment needs for patients who are not candidates for curative therapy, and discusses the challenges and opportunities that lie in emerging therapies.

Article

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0448053

Medicine, Faculty of; Non UBC; Medicine, Department of

10.3390/curroncol32010048

Faculty; Researcher

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