Quality of life and survival outcome for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by volumetric-modulated arc therapy versus intensity-modulated radiotherapy

Background To evaluate the longitudinal changes of quality of life (QoL) and survival in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated by volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) versus intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods One hundred and forty non-distant metastatic NPC patients treated by VMAT ( n = 66) or IMRT ( n = 74) with simultaneously integrated boost between March 2013 and December 2015 at a single institute were analyzed. QoL was prospectively assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 and HN35 questionnaires at the four time points: before RT, RT 42.4 Gy (20 fractions), and 3, 12 months after RT. Results The 3-year locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, failure-free survival, and overall survival rates were 96.6, 89.4, 86.1%, and 87.4 for the VMAT group, respectively, compared with 91.4, 90.0, 79.8, and 91.3% for the IMRT group ( p value > 0.05). The pattern of QoL changes was similar between the VMAT and IMRT group. No statistically or clinically significant difference in all the QoL scales was observed between VMAT and IMRT group at each time point. Compared to before RT, we observed statistically ( p <0.05) and clinically (difference of mean scores≧10) better outcome in global QoL and social functioning, but worse head and neck symptomatic outcome in swallowing, taste/smell, opening mouth, dry mouth, and sticky saliva at the time point of 1 year after RT for both groups. Conclusion The study provides the evidence that the tumor control, survival and changes of QoL is compatible for NPC patients treated by VMAT versus IMRT.