Race and sex disparities in long-term survival of oral and oropharyngeal cancer in the United States.

PURPOSE: 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.

Duke Scholars

Author Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences