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The emergence of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the primary etiology of oropharyngeal cancer has changed head and neck cancer (HNC) epidemiology. This study described change in the age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNC in the United States in the last four decades. Using a retrospective cohort analysis, the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results dataset from 1975 to 2016 was queried for eligible adult cases of HNC, grouped as oropharyngeal (n = 31,702) versus non-oropharyngeal (n = 87,108). Age at diagnosis was compared by gender (female, male) using independent t-test, and by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic other) using analysis of variance. Joinpoint regression estimated yearly increases/decreases in age of diagnosis by sex and race/ethnicity through annual percent changes (APC), which were summarized with average annual percent changes (AAPC). Mean age at diagnosis for oropharyngeal cancer was 60.3 years. While there was initially a decrease in age at diagnosis, a 0.37% annual increase occurred from 2002 to 2016 (APC = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28, 0.45). For non-oropharyngeal cancer, mean age at diagnosis was 63.2 years, with a continuous increase in age at diagnosis throughout the study period (1975–2016 AAPC = 0.08, 95% CI 0.04, 0.12). Females had higher average age at diagnosis than males for both sites, while blacks (57.4 years for oropharyngeal cancer; 59.0 years for non-oropharyngeal) had the lowest age at diagnosis of all races/ethnicity. Age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer has increased significantly since 2002, while non-oropharyngeal HNC has increased significantly in the last four decades.

Objectives: Thirty-day (30-day) mortality, a common posttreatment quality metric, is yet to be described following surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to measure 30-day postoperative mortality in HNSCC and describe clinical/nonclinical factors associated with 30-day mortality. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the National Cancer Database (2004 to 2013) was queried for eligible cases of HNSCC (n=91,858). Adult patients were included who were treated surgically with curative intent for the primary HNSCC, not missing first treatment, survival, and follow-up information. The outcome of interest was all-cause mortality within 30 days of definitive surgery. Clinical and nonclinical factors associated with all-cause 30-day postoperative mortality were estimated using a fully adjusted, multivariable logistic regression, which accounted for time-varying nature of adjuvant therapy. Results: A total of 775 patients died within 30 days of definitive surgery for HNSCC (30-day mortality rate of 0.84%). Thirty-day mortality rate was however up to 2.33% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91%-2.75%) depending on comorbidity. In the fully adjusted model, increasing severity of comorbidity was associated with greater odds of 30-day mortality (Charlson-Deyo comorbidity scores of 1: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.21-1.69, and of 2+ aOR, 2.55; 95% CI, 2.07-3.14). Odds of 30-day mortality were greater among Medicaid patients (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.30-2.41), and in patients in neighborhoods with little education (≥ 29% missing high school diploma: aOR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.02-1.78). Conclusions: Patients with higher 30-day mortality were those with a greater burden of comorbidities, with little education, and covered by Medicaid.

Objective: To describe comorbidity burden and nonclinical factors associated with all-cause mortality of sinonasal cancer in the United States.Methods: The National Cancer Database (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) was queried for adult cases of sinonasal cancer (n = 10,518). Outcome of interest was all-cause mortality. Independent variables included comorbidity score and nonclinical factors such as age, gender, race, facility type, distance to facility, insurance, and income. Survival analysis was conducted via multivariable extended Cox regression with Heaviside adjustments.Results: Patients were mostly (79%), male (61%), and mean age of diagnosis was 63.5 years. Approximately one in five patients (18.7%) had a major comorbid condition (Charlson-Deyo score ≥ 1) at diagnosis. After adjusting for clinical factors, increasing comorbidity score was associated with a corresponding increase in hazard of mortality (aHR comorbidity score of 1 = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.16, 1.35), (aHR score of 2+ = 1.61; 95%, CI 1.41, 1.83). Hazard of mortality was also associated with being male (aHR = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04, 1.17); black (aHR = 1.13, 95% CI, 1.03, 1.24); uninsured (aHR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.25, 1.68) or on Medicaid (aHR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.33, 1.69); residence in zip codes with lower median income quartile (aHR < $30,000 = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06, 1.29); and treatment at community cancer programs (aHR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.01, 1.28).Conclusion: Comorbid disease is associated with all-cause sinonasal cancer mortality, and after accounting for known clinical factors, significant differences in mortality persist based on disparity-driven, nonclinical factors.

Background There has been conflicting evidence on the independent prognostic role of human papillomavirus (HPV) status in sinonasal cancer. The objective of this study was to assess whether the survival of patients with sinonasal cancer differs based on various HPV statuses, including HPV‐negative, positive for the high‐risk HPV‐16 and HPV‐18 (HPV16/18) subtypes, and positive for other high‐risk and low‐risk HPV subtypes. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, data from the National Cancer Database were extracted from the years 2010–2017 for patients who had primary sinonasal cancer (N = 12,009). The outcome of interest was overall survival based on HPV tumor status. Results Study included an analytic cohort of 1070 patients with sinonasal cancer who had confirmed HPV tumor status (732 [68.4%] HPV‐negative; 280 [26.2%] HPV16/18‐positive; 40 [3.7%] positive for other high‐risk HPV; and 18 [1.7%] positive for low‐risk HPV). HPV‐negative patients had the lowest all‐cause survival probability at 5 years postdiagnosis (0.50). After controlling for covariates, HPV16/18‐positive patients had a 37% lower mortality hazard than HPV‐negative patients (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48–0.82). Patients aged 64–72 years (crude prevalence ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.51–0.86) and 73 years and older (crude prevalence ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.31–0.59) presented with lower rates of HPV16/18‐positive sinonasal cancer than those aged 40–54 years. In addition, Hispanic patients had a 2.36 times higher prevalence of non‐HPV16/18 sinonasal cancer than non‐Hispanic White patients. Conclusions These data suggest that, for patients with sinonasal cancer, HPV16/18‐positive disease may confer a significant survival advantage compared with HPV‐negative disease. Other high‐risk and low‐risk HPV subtypes have survival rates similar to the rates for HPV‐negative disease. HPV status might be an important independent prognostic factor in sinonasal cancer that could be used in patient selection and clinical decisions.