Treatment of Childhood Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma With Induction Chemotherapy and Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy: Results of the Children’s Oncology Group ARAR0331 Study

Rodriguez-Galindo C, Krailo MD, Krasin MJ, Huang L, McCarville MB, Hicks J, Pashankar F, Pappo AS. Treatment of Childhood Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma With Induction Chemotherapy and Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy: Results of the Children’s Oncology Group ARAR0331 Study. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Dec 10;37(35):3369-3376. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01276. Epub 2019 Sep 25. Erratum in: J Clin Oncol. 2021 May 10;39(14):1602. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.00886. PMID: 31553639; PMCID: PMC6920031.

The treatment of childhood nasopharyngeal carcinoma has been adapted from adult regimens; pediatric-specific studies are limited. The ARAR0331 study sought to evaluate the impact of induction chemotherapy (IC) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCR). Patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer stages IIb to IV were scheduled to receive three cycles of IC with cisplatin and fluorouracil, followed by CCR with three cycles of cisplatin. Patients with complete or partial response to IC received 61.2 Gy to the nasopharynx and neck, and patients with stable disease received 71.2 Gy.