Open AccessSymptoms‐Findings Correlation in Recurrent Head andNeck Cancer
Author(s) -
Nisa Lluís,
La Macchia Riccardo,
Boujelbene Nouredine,
Escher Anette,
Khanfir Kaouthar,
Giger Roland
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
otolaryngology–head and neck surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.232
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1097-6817
pISSN - 0194-5998
DOI - 10.1177/0194599812451426a177
Subject(s) - medicine , asymptomatic , stage (stratigraphy) , head and neck cancer , correlation , cancer , head and neck , surgery , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , biology
Objective To assess the correlation between subjective symptom evaluation and tumor recurrence status in the 2 first years of follow‐up of patients treated for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Method Retrospective study of patients treated curatively for oral, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal SCC between 2008 and 2010. Review of reported symptoms and tumor recurrence status during the first 2 years posttherapy. Assessment of the degree of correlation with Phi coefficient and Student t test. Results One hundred one patients were included, of which 33% presented local and/or regional recurrence. Twenty‐one percent of the patients with recurrent disease were asymptomatic, and 50% of the patients with recurrences did not report any change in symptom’s intensity. On the other side, 66% of recurrence‐free patients mentioned various symptoms, and of these 15% reported an increase in symptom’s intensity during the 2 years following treatment. The symptom‐recurrence correlation is better in patients treated with unimodal therapy ( P <. 05) and in patients with initial early‐stage tumors (stages I‐II; P <. 05). Conclusion Specialized and close follow‐up in head and neck cancer patients is mandatory because of the inconstant correlation between symptoms and recurrence status and due to the fact that more than 20% of the patients with recurrences are asymptomatic.