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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
Therapy Testing in a Spheroid-based 3D Cell Culture Model for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: April 20, 2018
Prognostic factors of unknown primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Chun-Chi Huang1, Fen-Yu Tseng, Te-Huei Yeh
1Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Objective:
To evaluate the prognostic factors of unknown primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Study Design:
Retrospective study.
Subjects:
Patients with unknown primary HNSCC from 1980 to 2000 were included.
Results:
Forty-eight patients, predominantly male and with a mean age of 63.3+/-11.6 years, were recruited. The median survival time (MST) was 44 months. The overall survival rate was 60.4 percent at three years and 39.6 percent at five years. Forty-two patients receiving intervention regimens had a MST of 45 months, while six patients receiving palliative therapy had a MST of 8.5 months (log rank test, P=0.016). With multivariate Cox regression analysis, age (per year), higher nodal stage (N3 vs N1 or N2), and treatment (operation vs nonoperation) had a hazard ratio of 1.081 (P<0.0001), 5.852 (P=0.010), and 0.4 (P=0.042), respectively.
Conclusion:
Older age, higher nodal stage, and palliative treatment indicated poor prognosis. Survival time might be prolonged if surgical treatment is tolerable.
