Changing functional status within 6 months posttreatment is prognostic of overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer: NRG Oncology Study. Head Neck 2019 Nov;41(11):3924-3932
Date
08/23/2019Pubmed ID
31435980Pubmed Central ID
PMC6865821DOI
10.1002/hed.25922Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85071015198 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 8 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Is posttreatment functional status prognostic of overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC).
METHODS: In an HNC clinical trial, 495 patients had two posttreatment functional assessments measuring diet, public eating, and speech within 6 months. Patients were grouped by impairment (highly, moderately, modestly, or not impaired) and determined if they improved, declined, or did not change from the first assessment to the second. Multivariable Cox models estimated overall mortality.
RESULTS: Across all three scales, the change in posttreatment patient function strongly predicted overall survival. In diet, patients who declined to highly impaired had three times the mortality of patients who were not impaired at both assessments (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.60; 95% confidence interval, 2.02-6.42). For patients improving from highly impaired, mortality was statistically similar to patients with no impairment (HR = 1.38; 95% CI, 0.82-2.31).
CONCLUSIONS: Posttreatment functional status is a strong prognostic marker of survival in patients with HNC.
Author List
Eldridge RC, Pugh SL, Trotti A, Hu K, Spencer S, Yom SS, Rosenthal D, Read N, Desai A, Gore E, Shenouda G, Mishra MV, Bruner D, Xiao CAuthor
Elizabeth M. Gore MD Professor in the Radiation Oncology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedDiet
Eating
Female
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Predictive Value of Tests
Proportional Hazards Models
Quality of Life
Recovery of Function
Survival Analysis
Survival Rate
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
