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Postoperative wound infection. A poor prognostic sign for patients with head and neck cancer
Author(s) -
Grandis Jennifer R.,
Snyderman Carl H.,
Johnson Jonas T.,
Yu Victor L.,
D'Amico Frank
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19921015)70:8<2166::aid-cncr2820700826>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - medicine , surgery , head and neck cancer , urinary system , cancer , stage (stratigraphy) , odds ratio , pneumonia , surgical wound , wound infection , paleontology , biology
Background . The development of a wound infection has been identified as a favorable prognostic factor after oncologic surgical procedures. Methods . The authors retrospectively studied the relationship between postoperative wound infection, local/regional tumor recurrence, and survival rates in 134 patients undergoing therapeutic surgical resection for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Results . The median age was 61 years (range, 25‐87 years) with most (75%) patients having advanced disease (Stage III or IV). Patients without evidence of recurrent disease were followed up for a median time of 34 months (range, 24‐68 months). Twenty‐nine (22%) had local or regional bacterial infections develop postoperatively. Recurrence rates were increased (P = 0. 008) in patients with postoperative wound infections compared with patients who had distant infections, e.g., pneumonia or urinary tract infection, or no infection. Disease‐free survival also was adversely affected (P = 0.04) in this group. Both advanced tumor stage and postoperative wound infections were independently associated with decreased survival, with odds ratios of 2:3 and 24, respectively. Conclusions . These data contrast with other reports in the literature of a beneficial effect of postoperative wound infection on outcome. These findings suggest a possible relationship between local/regional immune function and postoperative infection in patients with SCCHN.