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Impact of nodal ratio on survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity
Author(s) -
Shrime Mark G.,
Ma Clement,
Gullane Patrick J.,
Gilbert Ralph W.,
Irish Jonathan C.,
Brown Dale H.,
Goldstein David P.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.21073
Subject(s) - nodal , medicine , basal cell , oncology , carcinoma , multivariate analysis , survival analysis , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , head and neck cancer , cancer
Background The association between nodal ratio and survival has not been assessed in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Methods This is a population‐based analysis, using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End‐Results database, to determine whether nodal ratio impacts survival in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Results Between 1988 and 2005, 2955 new diagnoses of N 1 or N 2 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity were identified. The mean nodal ratio was 16.9%. Nodal ratio was found to be strongly statistically associated with overall survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients could be stratified into low‐ (0% to 6%), moderate‐ (6% to 12.5%), and high‐risk (>12.5%) groups based on nodal ratio. Conclusions In patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, an increased nodal ratio is a strong predictor of decreased survival. Risk of death can be stratified based on nodal ratio. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009