Treatment outcome and prognostic factors of head and neck hemangiopericytoma: Meta‐analysis

Background Head and neck hemangiopericytoma (HNHPC) is rare. Treatment outcome and specific prognostic factors were unexplored. Methods A case meta‐analysis, in which treatment and outcome data were available, was performed. Results A total of 116 primary HNHPC cases were analyzed. Poor pathologic differentiation was associated with increased risk of tumor recurrence (odds ratio [OR] = 2.378; p  = .005), metastasis (OR = 3.634; p  = .011), and mortality (OR = 4.563; p  = .002), whereas surgery was associated with decreased risk of tumor recurrence (OR = 0.109; p  = .004). The tumor size >5.0 cm in diameter (hazard ratio [HR] = 6.391; p  = .002), nonsurgical treatment (HR = 7.648; p  = .000), and poor pathologic differentiation (HR = 1.705; p  = .012) were the independent unfavorable prognostic factors for disease‐free survival. Moreover, nonsurgical treatment (HR = 8.097; p  = .002) and deep tumor location (HR = 4.074; p  = .013) were independent adverse prognostic factors for overall survival (OS). Conclusion These results suggest a management emphasizing the surgical removal of the tumor as first‐line treatment. Tumor size >5.0 cm, poor pathologic differentiation, deep tumor location, and nonsurgical treatment were independent adverse prognostic factors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: 1685–1690, 2015