title: Carcinoma of the tonsillar region: comparison of two staging systems and analysis of prognostic factors.
abstract: Between 1966 and 1985, 92 patients with local or locoregional tonsillar carcinoma were treated in the Netherlands Cancer Institute. Treatment consisted of radiotherapy in 79 patients, combination of surgery and postoperative radiotherapy in 10 patients, and surgery alone in 3 patients. The 5-year crude survival rate was 43% and the disease-free interval 57%. Patients were classified according to the UICC 1982 and the UICC 1987/AJCC 1988 criteria. The changes in the lymph node classification proposed in UICC 1987 lead to inversion in sizes of N1 and N2 groups, and of stages III and IV. The most important prognostic factor for disease-free interval is T stage (P = .03). Prognosis is significantly worse in stage IV (UICC 1982) compared to stages I to III (41% vs. 65%, respectively, P = .03). Crude survival is lower in males (P = .031) and in patients who smoked (P = .019).
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mak-Kregar
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Hilgers
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baris
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Schouwenburg
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014067:Tonsillar Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy