Trial reportJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2023
Maintenance therapy improves the survival outcomes of patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma responding to first-line chemotherapy: a multicentre, randomized controlled clinical study.
Trial report in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maintenance treatment with oral anticancer agents after first-line chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Capecitabine combined with immunotherapy as maintenance therapy improves survival in recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- A Canadian Perspective on Systemic Therapy for Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- The role of immunochemotherapy maintenance in metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: insights from a cohort study in an endemic region.Clinical & translational immunology · 2025Article
- S-1 maintenance chemotherapy following definitive chemoradiotherapy in high-risk locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a propensity score-matched analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Metronomic S-1 Adjuvant Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Patients with Locoregionally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.Cancer research and treatment · 2024Article
- Successful replacement for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma with cholecystitis induced by PD-1 antibody: a case report.Immunotherapy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo explore the safety and role of tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil (S1) maintenance therapy (MT) in metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after response to first-line chemotherapy and to assess outcome-associated biomarkers.
methodsThis was a multicentre, open-label, randomized controlled study involving metastatic NPC patients recruited (from May 2015 to May 2019) at five hospitals in China. The participants were randomized to S1-MT (receiving S1 MT until disease progression or intolerance) or non-MT (followed up until disease progression) groups. The primary endpoint was the progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints were the overall survival (OS), the correlation between EBV-DNA, serum amyloid A (SAA) status, and outcomes after the first-line chemotherapy, and safety.
resultsThe median follow-up was 24.3 months; 88 and 95 participants were evaluable in the S1-MT and non-MT groups, respectively. Compared with non-MT, S1-MT prolonged PFS (16.9 vs. 9.3 months, P < 0.001) and OS (33.6 vs. 20.6 months, P < 0.001). Regardless of their EBV-DNA status after first-line chemotherapy, participants were able to benefit from S1 MT, but EBV-DNA-positive participants benefited more significantly (PFS: HR = 0.600, 95% CI = 0.373-0.965, P = 0.035; OS: HR = 0.393, 95% CI = 0.227-0.681, P = 0.001). MT only improved PFS and OS in patients with an SAA decline after first-line chemotherapy (PFS: HR = 0.570, 95% CI = 0.350-0.919, P = 0.021; OS: HR = 0.404, 95% CI = 0.230-0.709, P = 0.002). The median S1 treatment was 23 cycles. Grade 1-2 skin pigmentation, oral mucositis, and hand and foot syndrome were the main adverse reactions.
conclusionFor metastatic NPC patients with first-line chemotherapy response, S1 MT can improve PFS and OS, with good tolerability. EBV-DNA and SAA can better help us identify patients who can benefit from MT after standard treatment.
trial registrationThe study protocol was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IOR-16007939).
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