Prognostic factors in patients with jaw sarcomas

The aim of this study was to identify the prognostic factors related to the survival of patients with sarcomas of the jaw treated in the Dr. Eduardo Caceres Graziani National Institute for Neoplastic Diseases, Lima, Peru. Age, gender, delay in consultation, diagnostic delay, therapeutic delay, tumor size, tumor location, facial asymmetry, pain, treatment type, and histopathological diagnosis were all evaluated as possible prognostic factors that would influence survival in those with jaw sarcomas. In the analysis, the following was used: mortality tables, Kaplan-Meier's product-limit method, log-rank, and Breslow and Tarone-Ware tests; for the prognostic factors, Cox's Regression Model was used. The overall survival rate, with the patient being free from disease at two years, was 55%, and that at five years was 45%. In the independent analysis of the prognostic factors, four variables were statistically significant in influencing survival: gender (p = 0.043), histopathologic diagnosis (p = 0.019), tumor location (p = 0.019), and treatment type (p = 0.030). According to Cox's Regression Model for the multivariate analysis, statistically significant prognostic factors were: gender (p = 0.086), tumor location (p = 0.020), and treatment type (p = 0.092). Thus, the variables of gender, tumor location, and treatment type were determined to be predictive factors for prognosis of survival.