Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-30-2022
Abstract
Background: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) following surgical resection confers a survival benefit for adult patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We aim to investigate if adjuvant RT provides a similar survival advantage to patients ages 80+ through a national curated database.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study queried the National Cancer Database (NCDB) for all cases of HNSCC between 2004-2016. Patients treated with surgical resection alone were compared to those treated with surgery plus adjuvant RT. Overall survival (OS) was compared within adult (age <80 >years) and senior adult (age ≥80 years) cohorts using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Hazard ratios (HR) were assessed using Cox proportional hazards to account for differences in patient characteristics, primary site, and HNSCC stage.
Results: NCDB identified 16,504 locally advanced HNSCC treated with definitive surgery with 9,129 (55.3%) also receiving adjuvant RT. The mean age was 63.8 years (SD = 12.0) with 88.7% of patients ages11.3% ages ≥80 years. In the adult cohort, adjuvant RT was associated with a significant increase in OS compared to surgery alone at 1 year (88.4% vs. 83.8%, p=
Conclusion: The addition of adjuvant RT in senior patients (age ≥80 years) may not provide a similar OS benefit to that observed in younger patients. Further research is needed to best guide shared-decision making in this population.
Recommended Citation
Butkus, Joann M; Crippen, Meghan; Bar-Ad, Voichita; and Luginbuhl, Adam, "Impact of adjuvant radiation therapy after definitive surgery in senior adults >80 years old with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma on overall survival." (2022). Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers. Paper 64.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/otofp/64
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
36248977
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Frontiers in Oncology, Volume 12, September 2022, Article number 973245.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.973245.
Copyright © 2022 Butkus, Crippen, Bar-Ad and Luginbuhl
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