Critical appraisal of maxillary swing approach for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The aim of the current study was to report results of salvage nasopharyngectomy using the maxillary swing approach for persistent or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma after primary treatment.Between 1989 and 2011, Nasopharyngectomies were performed in 312 patients. Data were composed of retrospective review of records of the first 72 patients followed by a prospective collection of data for the remaining patients.Among the patients, 41 (13.1%) had persistent tumours and 271 (86.9%) had recurrent disease. Curative resection was achieved in 248 (79.5%) patients. All patients survived the operations. The median follow up duration was 34 months. The overall 5-year actuarial local tumour control was 74% and the overall 5-year disease-free survival was 56%. Those with negative resection margins on frozen section and tumour size less than 1.5 cm in diameter had significantly better local tumour control in the nasopharynx as well as disease-free survival.Maxillary swing nasopharyngectomy is an effective salvage procedure for small, persistent or recurrent tumour in the nasopharynx after primary therapy.