Race and sex disparities in long-term survival of oral and oropharyngeal cancer in the United States.
OBJECTIVE
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.
Saint Louis University Cancer Center, 3655 Vista Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA. nosazuwa@slu.edu.|Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 3635 Vista Avenue, 6th Floor Desloge Towers, Saint Louis, MO, 63110-2539, USA. nosazuwa@slu.edu.
Nosayaba
N
Osazuwa-Peters
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 3635 Vista Avenue, 6th Floor Desloge Towers, Saint Louis, MO, 63110-2539, USA.
Sean T
ST
Massa
Saint Louis University Cancer Center, 3655 Vista Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
Kara M
KM
Christopher
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 3635 Vista Avenue, 6th Floor Desloge Towers, Saint Louis, MO, 63110-2539, USA.
Ronald J
RJ
Walker
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 3635 Vista Avenue, 6th Floor Desloge Towers, Saint Louis, MO, 63110-2539, USA.|Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Mark A
MA
Varvares
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D018426:SEER Program; D012737:Sex Factors; D017741:Survivors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Long-term survival; Oral cavity cancer; Oropharyngeal cancer; Outcomes; Racial and sex disparities