Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) is one of the common cancer in Southeast Asia. In this region NPC is associated with Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) chronic infection with EBV DNA identifiable in almost all the NPC tumors and patient's serum at the time of diagnosis. Chinese, especially cantonese has the highest incidence. Only about 30% of patients presents early disease and has a good treatment outcome (80% cure for stage I disease and 70% for stage II by radiation).~This research is to test the effectiveness and toxicity of both Ifosfamide and Doxorubicin. It also aims to explore the relationship between EBV DNA and clinical response in patients with advanced naso-pharyngeal cancer which has been previously treated with chemotherapy.~Investigators believe EBV infection is necessary to cause NPC and that EBV DNA levels in the blood may directly relate to the total size of the tumor. Because NPC patients in this situation have a poor outlook, we design this study to evaluate the combination of Ifosfamide and doxorubicin for further treatment. While this combination of medicines has been used in many other forms of cancer, it has not been tested in patients with NPC.
This research is to test the effectiveness and toxicity of both Ifosfamide and Doxorubicin. It also aims to explore the relationship between EBV DNA and clinical response in patients with advanced naso-pharyngeal cancer which has been previously treated with chemotherapy.