Abstract
Objective: To investigate therapeutic strategies for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma based on an examination of clinical outcomes in our department.
Patients and methods: The patients were 99 cases with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated in our hospital from March 2000 to March 2009. Five-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year cause-specific survival (CSS) were examined by the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Subsite, stage, treatment (surgery group or radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group) and prognosis were reviewed retrospectively.
Results: Five-year OS and 5-year CSS were 50% and 59%. Compared with the Stage I and II groups, the prognosis of Stage III and IV groups was significantly worse. As for the treatment, 5-year CSS of the surgery group was 76%, while that of the radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group was 52%.
Regarding the subsite, 5-year CSS of the lateral wall type Stage I and II groups was 90% (surgery group: 100%, radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group: 83%), and that of the Stage III and IV groups was 63% (surgery group: 87%, radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group: 55%). Five-year CSS of the superior wall type Stage I and II groups was 85% (surgery group: 100%, radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group: 66%), and that of the Stage III and IV groups was 50% (surgery group: 75%, 5-year CSS was not obtained in the radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group).
Conclusion: The good outcome of the surgery group suggests that the indications for the operation were appropriate, and expansion of transoral resection should be considered in the near future. The outcomes of the radiotherapy or/and chemotherapy group require improvement.
