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. 2024 May 31;16(11):2117.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16112117.

The Association of Ethnicity and Oncologic Outcomes for Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC)

Kiana Mahboubi  1 , Steven C Nakoneshny  2 , Khara Sauro  1   2   3   4   5 , Samuel Roberts  1   6 , Rob Hart  1   2   5 , T Wayne Matthews  1   2   5 , Joseph Dort  1   2   3   5 , Shamir P Chandarana  1   2   5
Affiliations

The Association of Ethnicity and Oncologic Outcomes for Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC)

Kiana Mahboubi et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: To compare oncologic outcomes of South Asian (SA) patients treated for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to the general population. (2) Methods: Adult patients who underwent surgical resection of OSCC +/- adjuvant treatment between 2009 and 2022 (N = 697) at a regional cancer centre in Canada were included. SA patients, identified using a validated method, were compared to non-SA patients. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to compare the primary outcomes, disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) across baseline univariate characteristics, including betel nut consumption. Median follow-up time was 36.4 months. Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify independent predictors of survival with significance set at p < 0.05. (3) Results: SA patients (9% of cohort, N = 64) were significantly younger and had lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption compared to non-SA patients (p < 0.05). SA patients had a two-fold higher risk of recurrence and significantly worse disease-specific survival, even after adjusting for stage and high-risk features [RFS: HR 2.01 (1.28-3.14), DSS: HR 1.79 (1.12-2.88)]. The consumption of betel nut was not associated with outcomes. (4) Conclusions: SA patients had significantly worse oncologic outcomes, even after controlling for known predictors of poor prognosis. These findings are novel and can inform personalized treatment decisions and influence public health policies when managing patients with different ethnic backgrounds.

Keywords: South Asian; betel nut; ethnicity; head and neck cancer; oral cancer; oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Recurrence-free survival and (B) Disease-specific survival stratified by univariate factors. (N0 = no metastatic lymph nodes, N+ = positive lymph node metastases, ENE = lymph node metastases with extranodal extension).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Recurrence-free survival (left) and disease-specific survival (right) of South Asian patients based on betel nut use.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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