title: Prognostic factors in limited (T1-2, N0-1) oropharyngeal carcinoma treated with surgery ± adjuvant therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surgical therapy for early oropharyngeal carcinoma leads to excellent oncologic results but often requires adjuvant radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to identify prognostic factors that worsen the outcome of limited oropharyngeal carcinoma treated with surgery ± adjuvant therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred sixty-six patients were retrospectively evaluated between 1980 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 88.7% and local control (LC) was 93.3%. The univariate analysis showed a significant difference in DSS between pT1 and pT2 oropharyngeal carcinoma (DSS, 94.0% vs 81.2%; p = .008) and patients with tumor depth greater than 5 mm (DSS, 94.5% vs 78.9%; p = .031). No difference could be found as to N classification, marginal status, p16 human papillomavirus (HPV) status, type of treatment, and adjuvant radiotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primary surgical treatment is an effective therapy of limited oropharyngeal carcinoma. Patients with pT2 status and tumor depth of more than 5 mm show a significantly worse survival rate and should be further investigated in future clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Psychogios
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mantsopoulos
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agaimy
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zenk
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Waldfahrer
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013524:Surgical Flaps
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002945:Cisplatin
keywords: HPV; oropharyngeal cancer; prognostic factors; surgery; tumor depth