Liposomal paclitaxel versus docetaxel in induction chemotherapy using Taxanes, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Sai-Lan Liu†,
Xue-Song Sun†,
Xiao-Yun Li†,
Qiu-Yan Chen,
Huan-Xin Lin,
Yue-Feng Wen,
Shan-Shan Guo,
Li-Ting Liu,
Hao-Jun Xie,
Qing-Nan Tang,
Yu-Jing Liang,
Jin-Jie Yan,
Chao Lin,
Zhen-Chong Yang,
Lin-Quan Tang†,
Ling Guo† and
Hai-Qiang Mai†Email author

†Contributed equally

BMC Cancer201818:1279

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-5192-x

Received: 19 August 2018
Accepted: 6 December 2018
Published: 20 December 2018

Open Peer Review reports

Abstract

Background

We wished to evaluate the efficacy and safety of liposomal paclitaxel and docetaxel for induction chemotherapy (IC) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods

A total of 1498 patients with newly-diagnosed NPC between 2009 and 2017 treated with IC plus concurrent chemotherapy were included in our observational study. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and grade-3–4 toxicities were compared between groups using propensity score matching (PSM).

Results

In total, 767 patients were eligible for this study, with 104 (13.6%) and 663 (86.4%) receiving a liposomal paclitaxel-based and docetaxel-based taxanes, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) regimen, respectively. PSM identified 103 patients in the liposomal-paclitaxel group and 287 patients in the docetaxel group. There was no significant difference at 3 years for OS (92.2% vs. 93.9%, P = 0.942), PFS (82.6% vs. 81.7%, P = 0.394), LRFS (94.7% vs. 93.3%, P = 0.981) or DMFS (84.6% vs. 87.4%, P = 0.371) between the two groups after PSM. Significant interactions were not observed between the effect of chemotherapy regimen and sex, age, T stage, N stage, overall stage, or Epstein–Barr virus DNA level in the subgroup multivariate analysis. The prevalence of grade-3–4 leukopenia and neutropenia in the liposomal-paclitaxel group was significantly lower than that of the docetaxel group (P < 0.05 for all).