Prognostic factors and relative risk in hypopharyngeal cancer--related parameters concerning stage, therapeutics and...

The prognostic value of 16 parameters was evaluated in a series of 126 squamous cell carcinoma of hypopharynx between 1978 and 1985 at the "Serviço de Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço" of the "Hospital Heliópolis", São Paulo. The variables considered were: age, sex, ethnic background, interval between diagnosis and detection of first symptom, extension of primary lesion (T), N categories, histologic evaluation of primary lesion (pT) and neck node metastasis (pN), number of clinical positive nodes (NGPOS), radiation, chemotherapy and recurrence of the disease (local, regional and distant metastasis). After a multifactorial study using Cox life table model (3) and Dixon mathematic-statistical model (8), 5 of those 16 parameters were found to influence survival, independently. The five variables organized according to hypopharynx cancer prognostic significance were: age, odynophagia, number of clinical (NGPRE) and histological (NGPOS) metastatic lymph nodes and radiation therapy; odynophagia and radiotherapy were the variables that decreased the relative risk of recurrence in the survival of cancer of the hypopharynx.