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. 2016 Feb;142(2):521-8.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-015-2061-8. Epub 2015 Oct 28.

Race and sex disparities in long-term survival of oral and oropharyngeal cancer in the United States

Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters  1   2 , Sean T Massa  3 , Kara M Christopher  4 , Ronald J Walker  3 , Mark A Varvares  3   5
Affiliations

Race and sex disparities in long-term survival of oral and oropharyngeal cancer in the United States

Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of race and sex on long-term survival of oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database was queried for adult oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients with at least 25-year follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and cox proportional hazards model were used to identify differences.

Results: Of the 22,162 patients identified, 70.3% were males. Only 8.9% were alive at 25 years post-diagnosis. Black males show the poorest overall and disease-specific survival rates (p < 0.001). After controlling for covariates, Blacks had a 40% higher hazard of mortality compared with Whites (HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.35-1.46), while females had a 9% reduction in mortality risk (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.88-0.94).

Conclusions: Overall and disease-specific survival is poor for oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients, and Black men fare worst. This illustrates the need for long-term cancer survival plans incorporating disparity effects in overall cancer outcomes.

Keywords: Long-term survival; Oral cavity cancer; Oropharyngeal cancer; Outcomes; Racial and sex disparities.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have any conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Patient selection flowchart. This figure describes how sample population was derived from the SEER cancer database, using the inclusion and exclusion criteria
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overall survival by race and sex. This figure is a survival curve showing overall survival of patients. Survival curve for Black females eventually converges with White males and females around the 20-year mark. For males, the curve fails to converge even at the 25-year mark
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Disease-specific survival. This figure is a survival curve showing oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer disease-specific survival. Curves indicate the disparities that exist between Blacks, both male and females, versus Whites. Black males fare worse
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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