Pretreatment Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase and N Classification Predict Long-Term Survival and Distant Metastasis in Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Who Have A Positive Family History of Cancer

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate prognostic factors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from the endemic area of southern China who have a positive family history (FH) of cancer. Retrospective analysis of 600 patients with nondisseminated NPC and a positive FH was conducted. The prognostic value of different factors for overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and local relapse-free survival (LRFS) were assessed using Cox regression models. The 3-year OS, DMFS, DFS, and LRFS rates were 93.8%, 91.3%, 86.3%, and 93.8%, respectively. The FH tumor type was NPC for 226/600 (37.7%) patients and other cancers for 374/600 (62.3%) patients. The 3-year OS and DMFS rates for patients with an FH of NPC were 91.2% and 89.8%, respectively. Thirty of 600 (5.0%) patients had elevated pretreatment serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH >245.0 IU/L). In multivariate analysis, N classification (HR 4.56, 95% CI 2.13–9.74, P < 0.0001) and elevated pretreatment serum LDH (HR 2.87, 95% CI 1.08–7.62, P = 0.034) were independent prognosticators for OS. Female patients (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.19–0.95, P = 0.037) and patients with normal pretreatment serum LDH (HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.02–5.78, P = 0.046) had better DMFS. Elevated pretreatment serum LDH and N classification are independent prognostic factors for poorer survival in patients with NPC who have a positive FH of cancer.