• Radiat Oncol · Aug 2015

    Lymph node ratio as a prognostic factor in head and neck cancer patients.

    • Chien-Chih Chen, Jin-Ching Lin, and Kuan-Wen Chen.
    • Department of Radiation Oncology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, No.1650, Sect. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Taichung, 40705, Taiwan, Republic of China. chiencheh@gmail.com.
    • Radiat Oncol. 2015 Aug 25; 10: 181.

    BackgroundLymph node status is one prognostic factor in head and neck cancer. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prognostic value of lymph node ratio (LNR) in head and neck cancer patients who received surgery plus postoperative chemoradiotherapy.MethodsFrom May 1991 to December 2012, a total of 117 head and neck cancer patients who received surgery plus postoperative chemoradiotherapy were analyzed. The primary sites were oral cavity (93), oropharynx (13), hypopharynx (6), and larynx (5). All patients had pathologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma and 63 patients had neck lymph nodes metastasis. LNR was calculated for each patient. The endpoints were overall survival (OS), local failure-free survival (LFFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS).ResultsThe median follow up time was 36 months, with a range from 3.4 to 222 months. The 3-year rates of OS, LFFS, and DMFS were 59.7, 70.3, and 81.8%, respectively. The median value of LNR for lymph nodes positive patients was 0.1. In univariate analysis, patients with an LNR value less than 0.1 had better 3-year OS (67.0% vs.41.0%, p = 0.004), 3-year LFFS (76.1% vs. 54.9%, p = 0.015) and 3-year DMFS (87.2% vs. 66.4%, p = 0.06). Multivariate analysis revealed that LNR was an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.367-6.242; p = 0.006) and LFFS (HR = 4.12; 95% CI = 1.604-10.59; p = 0.003).ConclusionLNR is an important prognosis factor for OS and LFFS in head and neck cancer patients.

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