Survival rates of patients with cancer of the lip, mouth and pharynx: a cohort study of 10 years

The prognostic role of sex and hemoglobin levels in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Women and men differ genetically, biologically (sex) and by social construct (gender), possibly impacting on prognostic factors in predicting cancer survival. Hemoglobin levels and immune system activation are players acting in this scenario which could play a role in partly determining prognosis between patients of different sex/gender (S/G). Here, we investigate these factors in patients affected by tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

This is an observational retrospective cohort study. We collected tongue cancer patients' clinical data, including hemoglobin levels and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between women and men considering confounding and prognostic factors in multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. Stratified analyses were also conducted by sex and tumor stage.

RESULT

576 patients, 39.9% women and 60.1% men, were found eligible for the analysis. Men were more often smokers (p<0.001), alcohol consumers (p<0.001), overweight or obese (p<0.001) and undergoing radiotherapy (p=0.002). In multivariate models for stage I-II, men showed half risk of death and relapse compared to women (HR=0.44; 95%CI 0.24-0.81, p=0.009; HR=0.55; 95%CI 0.34-0.87, p=0.01, for OS and DFS respectively). Moreover, low hemoglobin levels appeared to be an independent prognostic factor for women but not for men in terms of both OS and DFS. Specifically, women with low hemoglobin levels showed a worse tumor outcome (HR=2.66; 95%CI 1.50-4.70; HR=2.09; 95%CI 1.24-3.53, for OS and DFS respectively). Low hemoglobin levels appeared to be a poor OS prognostic factor for women at stage I-II (p<0.004) but not for men (p=0.10). Women with advanced stage tumors, NLR>2.37, who did not performed Radiotherapy and with depth of invasion (DOI)> 10 were associated with a significant increase in relapse and death (all p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

In our cohort of patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma, men present better OS and DFS than women with early stages tumors. Low hemoglobin level was an independent prognostic factor for women, especially at early-stage tumors. For advanced stages (III-IV), sex is not a significant factor related to patients' prognosis.

Perfil Epidemiológico e Fatores Relacionados ao Câncer de Cavidade Oral em Adultos Jovens Brasileiros e sua Relação com o Óbito, 1985-2017

Introdução: A incidência do câncer de cavidade oral entre adultos jovens tem crescido ao longo dos últimos anos, não estando clara a etiologia e a patogênese da neoplasia nesse grupo. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil dos adultos jovens brasileiros diagnosticados com carcinoma de células escamosas (CCE) em cavidade oral e a relação com o óbito entre 1985 e 2017. Método: Estudo transversal de base hospitalar, com indivíduos de 19 a 40 anos, diagnosticados com CCE a partir dos Registros Hospitalares de Câncer do Brasil. Foi realizada a analise descritiva e calculados o teste qui-quadrado, a razão de prevalência (RP) e a regressão logística com intervalo de confiança de 95%. Resultados: Foram elegíveis 1.761 casos de CCE em adultos jovens no período em estudo. O maior número de casos se concentrou na faixa etária de 31≥40 anos (79,80%), homens (71,90%), brancos (50,20%), moradores da Região Sudeste (36,40%), sem companheiro (58,00%) e com o ensino fundamental completo (63,40%). A maioria apresentava hábitos tabagistas (61,60%) e etilistas (56,70%), 18,50% eram profissionais da agricultura/aquicultura e 40,70% relataram histórico familiar de câncer. Foram diagnosticados em estádio avançado 68,10% e 25,50% dos casos foram a óbito. Os casos diagnosticados na língua foram os mais frequentes (42,40%) e apresentaram RP=2,638 (IC95% 2,050-3,394) vezes maior para óbito em relação aos casos no lábio e após ajuste, a odds ratio para esse local aumentou para 7,832 (IC95% 2,625-23,374, p<0,0001). Conclusão: O CCE nessa população necessita de maior atenção para reduzir a incidência e a letalidade desse problema de saúde publica.

Tobacco-related neoplasms: survival analysis and risk of death of population data from Florianópolis, SC

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the probability of survival and prognostic factors for tobacco-related neoplasms in a population-based cohort.

METHODS

This is a cohort with data from the Population-Based Cancer Registry of Florianópolis, southern Brazil, from 2008 to 2012. The Stata 16.0 software was used to estimate the probabilities of survival in five years after diagnosis, by the Kaplan Meier method, and the risk of death, by the Cox regression.

RESULTS

A total of 2,829 cancer records related to smoking were included, more prevalent among males, over 70 years of age, nine years or more of schooling, white, with a partner and metastatic diagnosis. The most frequent groupings were colon and rectum (28.7%), trachea, bronchi and lungs (18.6%) and stomach (11.8%). At follow-up, 1,450 died. Pancreatic cancer had the worst probability of survival (14.3%), followed by liver cancer (19.4%).

CONCLUSION

Risk factors for death and survival rates differ across the 13 types of tobacco-related cancers. Early diagnosis and primary prevention are strategies that must be improved to improve survival and decrease the burden related to these types of cancer.

Classification of cytological samples from oral potentially malignant lesions through Raman spectroscopy: A pilot study

The potential of Raman microspectroscopy of exfoliated cells has been demonstrated for oral cancer diagnosis. In this study, brush biopsies were collected from the buccal mucosa/tongue of healthy donors (n = 31) and from oral mucosal dysplastic lesions (n = 31 patients). Raman spectra were acquired and subjected to partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The patient samples could be differentiated from healthy donor samples with 96% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Furthermore, PLS-DA models were developed based on cytopathological and histopathological assessment. Low and high grade dysplasia could be discriminated with 64% sensitivity and 65% specificity based on cytopathological assessment, while 81% sensitivity and 86% specificity could be achieved when histopathological assessment was within six months of the brush biopsy sampling. Therefore, this explorative study has successfully demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy may have a role in monitoring patients with dysplasia and may reduce the need for multiple biopsies.

Prognostic factors and long-term survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: this study aimed to evaluate long-term survival and prognostic factors in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in an economically poor region of Brazil.Methods: the data were obtained from analysis of medical and mortality records of 210 patients with OSCC treated at an oncology hospital providing services to the Brazilian Unified National Health System in a State of northeastern Brazil between January 2006 and December 2008. Sociodemographic and clinical information, treatment performed, recurrence and evolution were collected. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank and Cox regression tests were used to compare the curves.Results: the median survival in the study period was 47.4 months (95% CI = 38.2 - 56.7). The overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 29% and 19.8%, respectivelly. Individuals over 60 years of age (HR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.06 - 2.73), presence of regional metastasis (HR = 2.51; 95% CI = 1.55 - 4.08), presence of recurrence (HR = 3.18; 95% CI = 1.88 - 5.39) and no surgical treatment (HR = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.31 - 3.35) had a worse prognosis.Conclusions: advanced age, presence of regional metastasis, tumor recurrence and non-surgical treatment predict poorer survival in patients diagnosed with OSCC.

Clinical, ultrasound and histopathological correlation of clinically N0 neck nodes in patients with cancers of the pharynx and larynx

Background: The presence of metastatic cervical adenopathy is essential for treatment planning and prognosis assessment. Treatment of patients with head and neck cancer with clinically negative cervical lymphadenopathy (N0) remains controversial. Neck palpation, as the method used in tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) staging, has limitations and can provide false negative results in some cases. Lymph node metastases are associated with a reduced survival rate but at the same time, neck dissection for the patient with N0 neck is not without risks or complications. Objectives: In prospective study, we compared palpation, ultrasonography (US) examination of the neck and histopathological examination in patients with cancers of the pharynx and larynx. Patients, Materials and Methods: Forty-six patients with cancers of the pharynx and larynx that presented with a N0 neck were prospectively analyzed. They were divided in two groups: 23 patients operated with an external approach including the control of the lymph node areas, and a second group of 23 patients operated using endoscopy and carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser, no neck dissection – “watchful waiting policy”. All patients have had a flexible endoscopy of the pharynx and larynx, US of the neck and all received surgical treatment for their primary tumor. Imaging was performed in selected cases. All the removed lymph nodes were sent for histopathology. US was also used as a follow-up method. The US features of the examined lymph nodes were: diameters [longitudinal (L) and transverse (T)]; the ratio of the two diameters (L/T); shape; lymph node area; central hypodensity; regular/irregular margins; aspect (homogeneous or not). Results: US has detected 25 lymph nodes in the open surgery group and intraoperatively, we excised 31 (sensitivity of 80.6%). Ten lymph nodes showed metastases, with 100% accuracy of US, which have been confirmed both pathologically and immunohistochemically. US in the second group – patients treated with CO₂ laser – detected at four patients 10 cervical lymph nodes that did not presented any malignant features. At recurrence alone, the US confirmed 100% presence of nodes metastases. Conclusions: US was superior to palpation and this method can be recommended as a diagnostic tool in preoperative assessment of patients without palpable metastasis (N0).

Biomedical applications of vibrational spectroscopy: Oral cancer diagnostics

Vibrational spectroscopy, based on either infrared absorption or Raman scattering, has attracted increasing attention for biomedical applications. Proof of concept explorations for diagnosis of oral potentially malignant disorders and cancer are reviewed, and recent advances critically appraised. Specific examples of applications of Raman microspectroscopy for analysis of histological, cytological and saliva samples are presented for illustrative purposes, and the future prospects, ultimately for routine, chairside in vivo screening are discussed.

A pilot study for early detection of oral premalignant diseases using oral cytology and Raman micro-spectroscopy: Assessment of confounding factors

This study demonstrates the efficacy of Raman micro-spectroscopy of oral cytological samples for differentiating dysplastic, potentially malignant lesions from those of normal, healthy donors. Cells were collected using brush biopsy from healthy donors (n = 20) and patients attending a Dysplasia Clinic (n = 20). Donors were sampled at four different sites (buccal mucosa, tongue, alveolus, gingiva), to ensure matched normal sites for all lesions, while patient samples were taken from clinically evident, histologically verified dysplastic lesions. Spectra were acquired from the nucleus and cytoplasm of individual cells of all samples and subjected to partial least squares-discriminant analysis. Discriminative sensitivities of 94% and 86% and specificity of 85% were achieved for the cytoplasm and nucleus, respectively, largely based on lipidic contributions of dysplastic cells. Alveolar/gingival samples were differentiated from tongue/buccal samples, indicating that anatomical site is potentially a confounding factor, while age, gender, smoking and alcohol consumption were confirmed not to be.

Survival trends of patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer treated at a cancer center in São Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to estimate the overall survival (OS) and conditional survival (CS) in patients diagnosed with oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to determine their survival trends.

METHODS

The study included all consecutive patients treated at the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center for oral or oropharyngeal SCC between 2001 and 2012. Data were obtained from the Hospital Cancer Registry. OS and CS were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method to evaluate the probability of survival with Cox predictor models.

RESULTS

Data of 505 oral and 380 oropharyngeal SCC patients obtained in 2001-2006 and 2007-2012 were analyzed. Most of the oral SCC (59%) and oropharyngeal SCC (90%) patients had stages III-IV SCC. The 5-year OS for patients with oral SCC was 51.7%, with no significant difference between the first and second periods. The CS rates in 2007-2012 were 65% after the first year and 86% up to the fifth year. For oropharyngeal SCC, the 5-year OS rate was 45.0% in the first period. The survival rate increased to 49.1% from 2007 to 2012, with a reduction in the risk of death (HR=0.69;0.52-09.2). The CS estimates from 2007 to 2012 were 59% after the first year and 75% up to the fifth year.

CONCLUSION

Survival across the two time periods remained stable for oral SCC but showed a significant increase for oropharyngeal SCC, possibly because of improvements in the patients' response to radiotherapy, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and the use of more accurate diagnostic imaging approaches.

Oral and oropharyngeal cancer: epidemiology and survival analysis

Objective

To evaluate the epidemiological profile and survival rate of oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients seen at a university hospital.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out by means of the pathological reports of patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer, seen at a university hospital of the Southern Region, between January 2004 and December 2014. Information was collected on patients and tumors. The mortality rate was gathered from the patient death registry in the Mortality Information System. Data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and the log-rank test to compare variables.

Results

The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 42% and 38%, respectively. The anatomical location had a significant association with survival rate (p=0.001), with the rates were better in the lips (p=0.04), and worse in the oropharynx (p=0.03). There were no statistically significant differences between survival rates according to age, sex, ethnicity, schooling level and histologic grade.

Conclusion

The survival rates of oral and oropharyngeal cancer were and associated with the anatomical site of the tumor.

The mortality-incidence ratio as an indicator of five-year cancer survival in metropolitan Lima

Introduction

The Mortality–Incidence Ratio complement [1 – MIR] is an indicator validated in various populations to estimate five-year cancer survival, but its validity remains unreported in Peru. This study aims to determine if the MIR correlates directly with five-year survival in patients diagnosed with the ten most common types of cancer in metropolitan Lima.

Materials and methods

The Metropolitan Lima Cancer Registry (RCLM in Spanish) for 2004–2005 was used to determine the number of new cases and the number of deaths of the following cancers: breast, stomach, prostate, thyroid, lung, colon, cervical, and liver cancers, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukaemia. To determine the five-year survival, the five-year vital status of cases recorded was verified in the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC in Spanish). A linear regression model was used to assess the correlation between [1 – MIR] and total observed five-year survival for the selected cancers.

Results

Observed and estimated five-year survival determined by [1 – MIR] for each neoplasia were thyroid (66.7%, 86.7%), breast (69.6%; 68%), prostate (64.3%, 63.8%) and cervical (50.1%, 58.5%), respectively. Pearson’s r coefficient for the correlation between [MIR – 1] and observed survival was = 0.9839. Using the coefficient of determination, it was found that [1 – MIR] (X) captures the 96.82% of observed survival (Y).

Conclusion

The Mortality–Incidence Ratio complement [1 – MIR] is an appropriate tool for approximating observed five-year survival for the ten types of cancers studied. This study demonstrates the validity of this model for predicting five-year survival in cancer patients in metropolitan Lima.