Table 1 Patients’ characteristics (a), frequency of lymph node (LN) metastasis at presentation according to each characteristic (b), and the 5-year regional recurrence-free rate in cN0 cases by characteristic (c)
(a) Characteristic | (b) LN metastasis at presentasion (%) | (c) 5-year regional recurrence-free rate in cN0 cases (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. (%) | p value | No | p value | |||
Age (years), median (range) | 70 (38–91) | |||||
≥ 70 years | 30 (55) | 23 | 0.18 | 23 | 76 | 0.7 |
< 70 years | 25 (45) | 40 | 15 | 76 | ||
Gender | ||||||
Male | 46 (84) | 30 | 1 | 32 | 81 | 0.44 |
Female | 9 (16) | 33 | 6 | 53 | ||
ECOG PS | ||||||
0 | 42 (76) | 31 | 0.82 | 29 | 78 | 0.26 |
1 | 11 (20) | 27 | 8 | 57 | ||
≥ 2 | 2 (4) | 50 | 1 | – | ||
T factor | ||||||
3 | 5 (9) | 0 | 0.12 | 5 | 75 | 0.96 |
4a | 26 (47) | 42 | 15 | 63 | ||
4b | 24 (44) | 25 | 18 | 82 | ||
N factor | ||||||
0 | 38(69) | |||||
1 | 5 (9) | |||||
2b | 11 (20) | |||||
2c | 1 (2) | |||||
Imaging studies at presentation | ||||||
CT | 55 (100) | |||||
MRI | 27 (49) | |||||
PET‐CT | 13 (24) | |||||
Direction of tumor invasion medial site | ||||||
Yes | 53 (96) | 30 | 0.52 | 37 | 73 | 0.58 |
No | 2 (4) | 50 | 1 | 100 | ||
Lateral site | ||||||
Yes | 45 (82) | 33 | 0.33 | 30 | 67 | 0.16 |
No | 10 (18) | 20 | 8 | 100 | ||
Cranial site | ||||||
Yes | 52 (95) | 29 | 0.22 | 37 | 73 | 0.64 |
No | 3 (5) | 66 | 1 | 100 | ||
Caudal site | ||||||
Yes | 31 (56) | 32 | 1 | 21 | 35 | 0.02 |
No | 14 (44) | 29 | 17 | 92 | ||
Anterior site | ||||||
Yes | 48 (87) | 31 | 1 | 33 | 80 | 0.83 |
No | 7 (13) | 29 | 5 | 71 | ||
Posterior site (pterygoid plates) | ||||||
Yes | 34 (62) | 41 | 0.02 | 20 | 57 | < 0.01 |
No | 21 (38) | 14 | 18 | 90 | ||
Nasopharynx | ||||||
Yes | 5 (9) | 60 | 0.17 | 2 | 100 | 0.53 |
No | 50 (91) | 27 | 36 | 72 | ||
Posterior wall+ | ||||||
Yes | 50 (91) | 34 | 0.14 | 33 | 69 | 0.3 |
No | 5 (9) | 0 | 5 | 100 | ||