Oropharyngeal cancer as a driver of racial outcome disparities in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: 10‐year experience at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center

• DOI: 10.1002/hed.23933
• Publication Date: 2014-12-09T15:51:54Z
• Authors: Dan P. Zandberg; Sandy Liu; Olga Goloubeva; Robert Ord; Scott E. Strome; Mohan Suntharalingam; Rodney Taylor; Robert E. Morales; Jeffrey S. Wolf; Ann Zimrin; Joshua E. Lubek; Lisa M. Schumaker; Kevin J. Cullen
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Male; Maryland; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Racial Groups; Health Status Disparities; Middle Aged; White People; 3. Good health; Black or African American; Survival Rate; Oropharyngeal Neoplasms; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Humans; Female; Aged; Retrospective Studies

AbstractBackgroundRacial outcome disparities have been observed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with diminished survival for black patients compared with white patients.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 1318 patients with primary HNSCC treated at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center (UMGCC) from 2000 to 2010.ResultsOf all the patients, 65.9% were white, 30.7% were black, and 3.3% were of other races. Black patients were less likely to present with oral cavity cancer, and more likely to present with laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancers. White patients were more likely to have early stage disease, especially in the oral cavity. Black race was independently associated with worse overall survival (OS) in the entire cohort. Black patients had a significantly worse OS among oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers, with the largest disparity in oropharyngeal cancer. However, in multivariate analysis, race was only still significant in oropharyngeal cancer.ConclusionWe observed differences by race in distribution of disease site, stage, and OS. Survival disparity in the entire cohort was driven mostly by differences among oropharyngeal cancer. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 564–572, 2016