Symptoms and Signs, Staging and Co-Morbidity of Hypopharyngeal Cancer

Hypopharyngeal cancer trends in a high-incidence region: A retrospective tertiary single center study

BACKGROUND

Hypopharyngeal cancer has the bleakest prognosis among head and neck cancers due to its extensive submucosal involvement, advanced tumor stage, and limited surgical reconstruction options. Its primary causes include alcohol consumption, tobacco use, genetic predisposition, 1` diet, and socioeconomic conditions. While squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for 95% of hypopharyngeal tumors, it remains a rare form, comprising only 3%-5% of all SCC cases in the head and neck region. Globally, Central and Eastern Europe have the highest incidence rates for males (3.9 per 100000) and the third highest for females (2.26 per 100000), underscoring the significance of this seemingly uncommon condition. In Romania, hypopharyngeal cancer ranked 24th in incidence rate, with 634 new cases in 2020.

AIM

To study the incidence, treatment and survival rates of hypopharyngeal tumor cases in a major ear, nose, throat (ENT) surgical center.

METHODS

A retrospective epidemiological clinical study was conducted on patients diagnosed and treated for hypopharyngeal cancer at the ENT department of "Carol Davila Central University Emergency Military Hospital" in Bucharest between January 2018 and August 2022. The study included 53 patients and was authorized by the Ethics Committee of Titu Maiorescu Doctoral School (Bucharest, Romania) and the Ethics Committee of Carol Davila Central University Emergency Military Hospital (Bucharest, Romania). Inclusion criteria required a positive histopathological diagnosis of hypopharyngeal cancer, tumor localization in the hypopharyngeal region, and informed consent for data usage. Exclusion criteria involved major psychiatric pathologies and disagreement for data usage. Diagnosis was based on ENT assessment, imaging reports, and laboratory data. Treatment methods were determined based on various factors. Additional tools, such as Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 and Karnofski Performance Status Scale, were used for risk assessment and functional capacity evaluation. Quality of life aspects were measured using the European Organisation for Reasearch and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Head and Neck-35 questionnaire.

RESULTS

Our retrospective study examined 53 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer between January 2018 and August 2022. The majority of patients were male (94.3%), with an average age at diagnosis of 62.5 years. Among the patients, 20.75% were employed, 66.03% were retired, and 9.43% were unemployed. Smoking was prevalent among 69.81% of patients, while alcohol consumption was frequent in 32.07% of cases. The tumors were mostly diagnosed at an advanced stage (stage IV) and were predominantly SCC. Comorbidities were present in 83.01% of patients, with cardiovascular diseases being the most common. Dysphagia and neck mass were the most common symptoms reported. Treatment methods included surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. A favorable treatment response was observed in 22.64% of cases, while relapse occurred in 6 cases. Follow-up data was unavailable for some patients.

CONCLUSION

In summary, our findings align with existing literature; however, we observed a higher severity.

Oncological outcomes from surgical vs. non-surgical treatments for advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a surveillance, epidemiology, and end results-based study

OBJECTIVE

Patients with advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (HSCCs) have poor prognoses. The use of surgical or non-surgical treatments for these patients remains a topic of debate. This study compared survival following surgical and non-surgical treatments of patients with advanced HSCC based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with hypopharyngeal cancer from 2004 to 2018 were identified from the SEER database. Patients were divided into non-surgical group and surgical group, and patients in the surgical group were further divided into three groups: surgery-only, surgery with adjuvant radiation therapy and surgery with adjuvant chemoradiation therapy. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), and the secondary outcome was cancer-specific survival (CSS). Outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. A multivariate Cox regression analysis was also used to identify independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

The records of 1568 eligible patients with stage III or IV HSCC were examined. Receipt of surgery was associated with a longer OS [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4-0.56] and a longer CSS (HR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.38-0.57) after adjusting for age, sex, race, tumor site, tumor size, tumor grade, TNM stage, AJCC stage, number of carcinomas, prior cancer, receipt of radiotherapy, and receipt of chemotherapy. The results for OS were similar in an exploratory analysis of different patient subgroups.

CONCLUSION

Among patients with advanced HSCC in the SEER database, treatment with surgery was associated with longer OS and CSS than treatment with a non-surgical modality.