The survival impact of surgical therapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the hard palate.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the incidence and determinants of survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hard palate (SCCHP) between the years of 1973 to 2014 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.


METHODS
Retrospective, population-based cohort study of patients in the SEER tumor registry who were diagnosed with SCCHP from 1973 to 2014. Outcomes and measures included overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS).


RESULTS
A total of 1,489 cases of primary SCCHP were identified. Of those, 53.2% were females and 47.8% presented with stage IV disease. The mean age at diagnosis was 69.8 years. Overall survival at 2, 5, and 10 years was 44%, 33%, and 21%, respectively. A total of 66.2% of patients underwent surgery (with or without radiation therapy [RT]); 20.1% received RT; and 22.4% had both surgical and RT. On multivariate analysis, RT, advanced age, stage, and grade were associated with worse OS and DSS (P < 0.05). Surgical therapy (with or without radiation) was an independent favorable predictor of OS and DSS (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSION
SCCHP is relatively infrequent tumor that portends an overall poor prognosis when advanced stage and a greater prognosis when early stage. Surgical therapy was found to be an independent predictor for improved OS and DSS, whereas RT was associated with reduced OS and DSS.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
4. Laryngoscope, 128:2050-2055, 2018.
['Alonso|Jose E|JE|0000-0003-3602-7347', 'Han|Albert Y|AY|0000-0003-4427-6634', 'Kuan|Edward C|EC|0000-0003-3475-0718', 'Strohl|Madeline|M|', 'Clair|Jon Mallen-St|JM|', 'St John|Maie A|MA|', 'Ryan|William R|WR|', 'Heaton|Chase M|CM|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell D005260:Female D006801:Humans D015994:Incidence D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D015999:Multivariate Analysis D009367:Neoplasm Staging D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures D010157:Palatal Neoplasms D021362:Palate, Hard D011379:Prognosis D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant D012189:Retrospective Studies D018426:SEER Program D055815:Young Adult
Squamous cell carcinoma hard palate head and neck surgery otolaryngology