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.