title: Prognostic factors associated with the survival of oral and pharyngeal carcinoma in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Taiwan, a distinct ethnic group variation in incidence and mortality rates has been suggested for most carcinomas. Our aim is to identify the role of prognostic factors associated with the survival of oral and pharyngeal carcinoma in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Taiwan Cancer Registry records of 9039 subjects diagnosed with oral and pharyngeal carcinoma were analyzed. The population was divided into three ethnic groups by residence, which were Taiwanese aborigines, Hakka and Hokkien communities. Five-year survival rates were estimated by Kaplan-Meier methods. Ethnic curves differed significantly by log-rank test; therefore separate models for Taiwanese aborigines, Hakka and Hokkien were carried out. The Cox multivariate proportional hazards model was used to examine the role of prognostic factors on ethnic survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The five-year survival rates of oral and pharyngeal carcinoma were significantly poorer for Hokkien community (53.9%) and Taiwanese aborigines community (58.1%) compared with Hakka community (60.5%). The adjusted hazard ratio of Taiwanese aborigines versus Hakka was 1.07 (95%CI, 0.86-1.33) for oral and pharyngeal carcinoma mortality, and 1.16 (95%CI, 1.01-1.33) for Hokkien versus Hakka. Males had significantly poor prognosis than females. Subjects with tongue and/or mouth carcinoma presented the worst prognosis, whereas lip carcinoma had the best prognosis. Subjects with verrucous carcinoma had better survival than squamous cell carcinoma. Prognosis was the worst in elderly subjects, and subjects who underwent surgery had the highest survival rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study presented that predictive variables in oral and pharyngeal carcinoma survival have been: ethnic groups, period of diagnosis, gender, diagnostic age, anatomic site, morphologic type, and therapy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. phchen@nhri.org.tw <phchen@nhri.org.tw>
authors.forename: Ping-Ho
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tien-Yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Shieh
authors.forename: Pei-Shan
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Chi-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Yi-Hsin
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ying-Chu
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Min-Shan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Pei-Chien
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Shang-Lun
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Hung-Pin
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Ying-Chin
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Ko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018289:Carcinoma, Verrucous / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008048:Lip Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012107:Research Design; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery