Open AccessSecondary primary malignancy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: 27-year experience from the perspective of diagnostic tools
Author(s) -
ShihWei Wang,
LeongPerng Chan,
Lingfeng Wang,
CheWei Wu,
ShengHsuan Lin,
Ting-Hao Huang,
Ka–Wo Lee
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0263773
Subject(s) - malignancy , medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , oncology , survival rate , carcinoma , head and neck , basal cell , group b , head and neck cancer , surgery , cancer , paleontology , biology
Background The survival rate of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients with secondary primary malignancy (SPM) showed no significant improvement for decades, however, the impact of advances in diagnostic tools is rarely mentioned. This study investigated the clinical characteristic of HNSCC with SPM over a 27-year period especially from the perspective of diagnostic tools. Methods This study evaluated 157 HNSCC patients with SPM. The patients were divided into two groups according to the time of SPM diagnosis (Group A:1992–2003; Group B: 2004–2014). Age, gender, stage of first primary malignancy (FPM), SPM interval, overall survival, and disease-free survival were compared between groups. Results Group B had significantly more SPM developed rate (p = 0.002), more SPM patients with advanced stage of FPM (p = 0.001), synchronous SPM (p = 0.006), and shorter SPM interval (p<0.001) compared to Group A. The survival rate in Group B was not significantly better than Group A. Conclusion Among patients diagnosed with HNSCC recently, more SPMs are diagnosed in a shorter time interval and in a more advanced stage. The overall advances in diagnostic tools cannot significantly improve SPM survival, however, it enables more patients to receive corresponding treatment.