1.3 Participants
A total of 130 LANC patients (male 98, female 32; age range 10 to 74 years, mean age 48 years) with carotid artery invasion were recruited between January 2012 and September 2019 (Table 1). All patients had histologically proven stage III-IVA squamous cell carcinoma, largely non-keratinizing type, according to the most recent edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor/node/metastasis (TNM) classifications and prognostic stage groups . To rule out synchronous primary cancers and metastatic diseases, all patients were fully evaluated by positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck and fiberoscopic nasopharyngoscopy. Patients with synchronous primary cancers and/or metastatic disease were excluded. All patients had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1, and adequate renal, hepatic and bone marrow functions before chemoradiotherapy.