Salvage ifosfamide-doxorubicin chemotherapy in patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma pretreated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy

This study evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of ifosfamide and doxorubicin chemotherapy regimen in Turkish patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Twenty-one patients with recurrent or metastatic NPC previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy as adjuvant or palliative treatments who received ifosfamide 2500 mg/m(2) d 1-3, mesna 2500 mg/m(2) d 1-3, doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) d 1, repeated every 21 d was retrospectively analyzed. Patients received a median number of three cycles of ifosfamide-doxorubicin (range: 1-6). Seven patients (33.3%) achieved partial response and no patient achieved complete response. Six (28.5%) had stable disease, whereas three (18.75%) had progressive disease. The median time to progression was 7.0 mo. Ifosfamide-doxorubicin regimen is an effective salvage regimen in patients with recurrent and metastatic NPC.