Follow-up strategy based on event dynamics for stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma

PURPOSE

To investigate the follow-up strategy of stage II NPC based on event dynamics.

METHODS

Stage II NPC patients were retrospectively assessed from January 2007 to December 2014 at Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital. Event dynamics for patterns of recurrence and metastasis were calculated based on the hazard rates.

RESULTS

A total of 251 patients were included. After treatment, 10 (4.0%) patients developed recurrence and 6 (2.4%) patients developed metastasis. The hazard rate curve of recurrence showed a bimodal recurrence pattern. The maximum hazard rates were 0.048 and 0.072 at the intervals of 36-42 and 90-96 months, respectively. The maximum hazard rate was 0.036 at the interval of 48-54 months in the hazard rate curve of metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

Follow-up strategies of stage II NPC should be performed based on currently recommended guidelines. In the future, it should be modified to meet the needs of individual patients.

Gender Differences in the Recurrence Timing of Patients Undergoing Resection for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective:

This study was designed to visually represent postoperative recurrence patterns using event dynamics and to assess sex-based differences in the timing of recurrence for non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods:

We studied 829 patients (538 men, 291 women) with NSCLC who underwent complete pulmonary resection in 9 hospitals. Event dynamics with the use of life-table methods were evaluated, and only first events (distant metastases or local recurrence) were considered. The effects of sex, histological type, pathological stage, and smoking history were studied.

Result:

The resulting smoothed hazard rate curves indicated that the recurrence risk pattern definitely correlated with sex, with a sharp peak in the first year in men and a broad peak during the first 2 to 3 years in women. These findings were also confirmed by analyses according to pathological stage, histological type, and smoking history.

Conclusion:

The peak times of recurrence differed considerably between men and women. The delayed time of peak recurrence in women, associated with a longer disease-free interval within subsets of patients with similar disease stage, histological type, and smoking status, might account for the better survival in women.