The Impact of Radiation Treatment Time on Survival in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2016 · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJROBP.2016.08.046· OSTI ID:22645718

Shaikh, Talha ^[1]; Handorf, Elizabeth A. ^[2]; Murphy, Colin T. ^[1]; Mehra, Ranee ^[3]; Ridge, John A. ^[4]

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1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States)
2. Department of Biostatistics, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States)
3. Department of Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States)
4. Department of Surgical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States)

Purpose: To assess the impact of radiation treatment time (RTT) in head and neck cancers on overall survival (OS) in the era of chemoradiation. Methods and Materials: Patients with diagnoses of tongue, hypopharynx, larynx, oropharynx, or tonsil cancer were identified by use of the National Cancer Database. RTT was defined as date of first radiation treatment to date of last radiation treatment. In the definitive setting, prolonged RTT was defined as >56 days, accelerated RTT was defined as <47 days, and standard RTT was defined as 47 to 56 days. In the postoperative setting, prolonged RTT was defined as >49 days, accelerated RTT was defined as <40 days, and standard RTT was defined as 40 to 49 days. We used χ{sup 2} tests to identify predictors of RTT. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare OS among groups. Cox proportional hazards model was used for OS analysis in patients with known comorbidity status. Results: 19,531 patients were included; 12,987 (67%) had a standard RTT, 4,369 (34%) had an accelerated RTT, and 2,165 (11%) had a prolonged RTT. On multivariable analysis, accelerated RTT (hazard ratio [HR] 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73-0.97) was associated with an improved OS, and prolonged RTT (HR 1.25; 95% CI 1.14-1.37) was associated with a worse OS relative to standard RTT. When the 9,200 (47%) patients receiving definitive concurrent chemoradiation were examined, prolonged RTT (HR 1.29; 95% CI 1.11-1.50) was associated with a worse OS relative to standard RTT, whereas there was no significant association between accelerated RTT and OS (HR 0.76; 95% CI 0.57-1.01). Conclusion: Prolonged RTT is associated with worse OS in patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, even in the setting of chemoradiation. Expeditious completion of radiation should continue to be a quality metric for the management of head and neck malignancies.

• OSTI ID: 22645718
• Journal Information: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Journal Name: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 96; ISSN IOBPD3; ISSN 0360-3016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CHEMOTHERAPY
HEAD
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
NECK
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
RADIOTHERAPY
SURVIVAL TIME