Population-based comparative survival analysis of surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy and non-operative primary radiotherapy in patients with early-stage oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

<h4>Purpose</h4> Although recent clinical guidelines do allow primary radiotherapy for selected patients with early-stage oral tongue cancer, there has been little knowledge on the treatment outcomes of non-operative radiotherapy using modern treatment techniques. This study evaluated re...

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Autores principales: Yu Jin Lim, Moonkyoo Kong
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/0ca1514611cf4af18d409fa829484fb0
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Sumario:<h4>Purpose</h4> Although recent clinical guidelines do allow primary radiotherapy for selected patients with early-stage oral tongue cancer, there has been little knowledge on the treatment outcomes of non-operative radiotherapy using modern treatment techniques. This study evaluated recent prognostic differences between primary radiotherapy and surgical resection in T1‒2N0 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. <h4>Methods</h4> Patients diagnosed with T1‒2N0 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. After propensity score matching, the disease-specific survival of primary radiotherapy and surgery was compared. <h4>Results</h4> From a total of 8,458 patients initially identified, we defined matched cohorts: cohort A, comparing surgery alone vs. primary radiotherapy (n = 230 vs. 230), and cohort B, comparing surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy vs. primary radiotherapy (n = 230 vs. 230). The 7-year disease-specific survival rates were 77% vs. 35% (cohort A) and 65% vs. 35% (cohort B) (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Primary radiotherapy was independently associated with worse disease-specific survival in both cohorts A (hazard ratio 4.06; 95% confidence interval 2.53‒6.52) and B (hazard ratio 2.81; 95% confidence interval 1.96‒4.04). Time-course hazard rate function plots showed a distinct short-term risk increment in disease-specific mortality in the primary radiotherapy group. <h4>Conclusion</h4> In the contemporary treatment era, the use of radiotherapy as a definitive treatment resulted in an inferior prognosis in patients with T1‒2N0 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. The present population-based data suggest that primary radiotherapy cannot be used as an alternative to surgical management and it needs to be avoided as much as possible in early-stage tumors.