Treatment results and prognostic factors of patients undergoing postoperative radiotherapy for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Postoperative radiotherapy (PRT) is widely advocated for patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck that are considered to be at high risk of recurrence after surgical resection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the treatment outcomes of PRT for patients with laryngeal carcinoma and to identify the value of several prognostic factors. We reviewed the records of 256 patients treated for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma between January 1993 and December 2005. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Log-rank test was employed to identify significant prognostic factors for DFS and OS. The Cox proportional hazards model was applied to identify covariates significantly associated with the aforementioned endpoints. Our results showed the 3-, 5-, and 10-year DFS for all patients were 69.9%, 59.5%, and 34.9%, respectively. The 3-, 5-, and 10-year OS rates were 80.8%, 68.6%, and 38.8%, respectively. Significant prognostic factors for both DFS and OS on univariate analysis were grade, primary site, T stage, N stage, overall stage, lymph node metastasis, overall treatment times of radiation, the interval between surgery and radiotherapy, and radiotherapy equipment. Favorable prognostic factors for both DFS and OS on multivariate analysis were lower overall stage, no cervical lymph node metastasis, and using 60Co as radiotherapy equipment. In conclusion, our data suggest that lower overall stage, no cervical lymph node metastasis, and using 60Co as radiotherapy equipment are favorable prognostic factors for DFS and OS and that reducing the overall treatment times of radiation to 6 weeks or less and the interval between surgery and radiotherapy to less than 3 weeks are simple measures to remarkably improve treatment outcome.

Epidemiologic characteristics of oral cancer:single-center analysis of 4097 patients from the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center

Background:Oral cancer is a common type of head and neck cancers.Knowing its epidemiologic characteristics is crucial to preventing,diagnosing,and treating this cancer.This study aimed to explore the epidemiologic characteristics of oral cancer in South China.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed data from 4097 oral cancer patients treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between 1960 and 2013.We compared the age of onset,sex ratio,pathologic type,and primary tumor location among three subcultural areas(Guangfu,Hakka,and Chaoshan) and between an economically developed region and a less-developed one in Guangdong.Results:Overall,oral cancer had a male-to-female ratio of approximately 2:1,and this ratio decreased over time.Oral cancer occurred mostly in patients of 45-64 years old(54.5%),and the percentage of older patients gradually increased over time.The most common tumor location was the tongue.Squamous cell carcinoma was the predominant pathologic type.The percentage of blood type O in oral cancer patients was lower than that in the healthy population.The male-to-female ratio in the Chaoshan area was higher than that in the Guangfu and Hakka areas,whereas the age of disease onset in Guangfu was higher than that in Hakka and Chaoshan.The male-to-female ratio was lower and the age of disease onset was higher in the economically developed region than in the less-developed region.Conclusion:The incidence of oral cancer in South China presents typical characteristics to which doctors should pay attention when diagnosing and treating oral cancer patients.