ArticlePloS one2014
A prospective study: current problems in radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in yogyakarta, indonesia.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in Southeast Asia: Current Landscape and Future Priorities.British journal of biomedical science · 2025Review
- Treatment acceptance and its associated determinants in cancer patients: A systematic review.Narra J · 2023Article
- Facing problems in radiotherapy for breast cancer patients in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: A cohort retrospective study.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Effect of COVID-19 Epidemic on Delay of Diagnosis and Treatment Path for Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.Cancer management and research · 2020Article
- How many roads must a Malaysian walk down? Mapping the accessibility of radiotherapy facilities in Malaysia.PloS one · 2019Article
- Nursing's Potential to Address the Growing Cancer Burden in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Journal of global oncology · 2016Article
- The Impact of the Overall Radiotherapy Time on Clinical Outcome of Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; A Retrospective Study.PloS one · 2016Article
- Concurrent chemoradiotherapy for T3-4 and N0-1 nasopharyngeal cancer: Asian multicenter trial of the Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia.Journal of radiation research · 2016Article
- Current status of cancer care for young patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Jakarta, Indonesia.PloS one · 2014Article
- Current treatment options for local residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Current treatment options in oncology · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionNasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a high incidence in Indonesia. Previous study in Yogyakarta revealed a complete response of 29% and a median overall survival of less than 2 years. These poor treatment outcome are influenced by the long diagnose-to-treatment interval to radiotherapy (DTI) and the extended overall treatment time of radiotherapy (OTT). This study reveals insight why the OTT and DTI are prolonged.
methodAll patients treated with curative intent radiotherapy for NPC between July 2011 until October 2012 were included. During radiotherapy a daily diary was kept, containing information on DTI, missed radiotherapy days, the reason for missing and length of OTT.
resultsSixty-eight patients were included. The median DTI was 106 days (95% CI: 98-170). Fifty-nine patients (87%) finished the treatment. The median OTT for radiotherapy was 57 days (95% CI: 57-65). The main reason for missing days was an inoperative radiotherapy machine (36%). Other reasons were patient's poor condition (21%), public holidays (14%), adjustment of the radiation field (7%), power blackout (3%), inoperative treatment planning system (2%) and patient related reasons (9%). Patient's insurance type was correlated to DTI in disadvantage for poor people.
conclusionYogyakarta has a lack of sufficient radiotherapy units which causes a delay of 3-4 months, besides the OTT is extended by 10-12 days. This influences treatment outcome to a great extend. The best solution would be creating sufficient radiotherapy units and better management in health care for poor patients. The growing economy in Indonesia will expectantly in time enable these solutions, but in the meantime solutions are needed. Solutions can consist of radiation outside office hours, better maintenance of the facilities and more effort from patient, doctor and nurse to finish treatment in time. These results are valuable when improving cancer care in low and middle income countries.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.