TPC Versus GP Induction Chemotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

The NCCN guidelines recommend induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy as the standard treatment for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, meta-analyses have shown significant survival differences between different induction chemotherapy regimens. How to choose an induction chemotherapy regimen and treatment course that ensures definitive therapeutic effects and low incidence of toxic side effects remains a hot spot in clinical research. Polymeric micellar paclitaxel are an innovative form of paclitaxel drugs, with high penetration and long retention effects, which can enter the vascularly disordered tumor microenvironment through passive targeting and form higher concentrations in tumor tissue. It remains to be investigated whether the TPC (paclitaxel, cisplatin and capecitabine) regimen based on polymeric micellar paclitaxel compared to the current standard first-line induction chemotherapy GP (gemcitabine, cisplatin) regimen can further improve therapeutic effects in high-risk patients with locally advanced disease. There is still a lack of head-to-head studies for comparison. This study aims to compare, through a prospective, parallel-controlled, randomized, open-label, multicenter phase II clinical trial, the TPC induction chemotherapy vs. the GP induction chemotherapy combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy for the treatment of high-risk locoregionally advanced NPC (T4 or N2-3) in terms of 2-year progression-free survival, overall survival, overall response rate, toxic side effects, etc.