Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31875356›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2020

Hopkins criteria for residual disease assessment after definitive radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Yang Liu, Wen Long, Guannan Wang, Yuxiang Yang, Biaoshui Liu, Wei Fan

Open access · goldAbstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yang LiuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.ORCID 0000-0001-9167-514X
Wen LongDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
Guannan WangDepartment of Radiation Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.ORCID 0000-0003-1039-1001
Yuxiang YangDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
Biaoshui LiuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
Wei FanDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
Sun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAssessment of viable tumor residue after definitive radiotherapy is essential in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study aimed to investigate the use of Hopkins criteria on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for posttreatment response evaluation and whether plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA could bring additional value. MATERIALS AND

methodsNPC patients who underwent FDG-PET/CT scan within 26 weeks after definitive radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Residual disease was evaluated by Hopkins 5-point score. Accuracy of Hopkins criteria before and after incorporating EBV DNA was calculated. Prognostic value for locoregional failure-free survival (LRFFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) was analyzed.

resultsOne hundred and sixteen patients were evaluated. Median follow-up time was 28.3 months (range 3.3-92.0 months). Residual disease was found in 19 (16.4%) patients. Overall, Hopkins criteria had high specificity (86.6%; 95% CI, 78.2%-92.7%) and negative prognostic value (NPV) (94.4%; 95% CI, 88.7%-97.3%), while sensitivity and positive prognostic value (PPV) was 73.7% (95% CI, 48.8%-90.9%), 51.9% (95% CI, 37.8%-65.6%), respectively. Posttreatment plasma EBV DNA was not predictive of residual tumor (P = .272). PPV and accuracy were 50.0% (95% CI, 32.1%-67.9%) and 83.0% (95% CI, 73.8%-90.0%) after incorporating detectable EBV DNA into the scoring system. Positive PET/CT results were significantly correlated with inferior 3-year LRFFS (95.7% vs 79.5%, P = .043) and 3-year DFS (84.6% vs 54.4%, P = .028).

conclusionsThe Hopkins criteria demonstrated high NPV and specificity in posttreatment assessment, with the potential to be a reliable prognostic indicator for locoregional failure. Combining EBV DNA with PET/CT did not improve diagnostic accuracies. PET/CT should not be performed less than 12 weeks after treatment.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChildDisease-Free SurvivalDNA, ViralEpstein-Barr Virus InfectionsFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHerpesvirus 4, HumanHumansMaleMiddle AgedNasopharyngeal CarcinomaNasopharyngeal NeoplasmsDNA, ViralEpstein-Barr virusnasopharyngeal carcinomaPET/CTprognosisresponse assessment

Identifiers

PMID31875356
PMCPMC7013062
OpenAlexW2998377636

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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.