Investigate the relationship between site and pattern of distant metastasis (DM) and overall survival (OS) in a multi-institutional cohort of patients with DM head and neck cancer (HNC).
Retrospective review.
283 patients treated at 4 academic centers in the Midwest HNC Consortium between 2000 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Disease patterns were divided between solitary metastatic versus polymetastatic (≥2 sites) disease. Survival functions for clinically relevant variables were estimated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models.
Median OS for all patients was 9.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.4-10.6). Lung (n = 220, 77.7%) was the most common site of DM, followed by bone (n = 90, 31.8%), mediastinal lymph nodes (n = 55, 19.4%), liver (n = 41, 14.5%), and brain (n = 17, 6.0%). Bone metastases were independently associated with the worst prognosis (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.3-2.1). On univariate analysis, brain metastases were associated with improved prognosis (HR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3-0.9), although this was not statistically significant on the multivariate analysis. Polymetastatic disease was present in the majority of patients (n = 230, 81.3%) and was associated with a worse prognosis compared to solitary metastatic disease (HR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0-2.0).
Our large, multi-institutional review indicates that both the metastatic pattern and site of DM impact OS. Polymetastatic disease and bone metastasis are associated with worse prognosis, independent of treatment received.
4 Laryngoscope, 2020.

© 2020 American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society Inc, “The Triological Society” and American Laryngological Association (ALA).

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