Exposure to alcohol and overall survival in head and neck cancer: A regional cohort study

Abstract

Background: There is a paucity of knowledge regarding the association of alcohol use with overall survival (OS) of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).Methods: All 1033 patients treated for new HNSCC in Southwest Finland regional referral center of Turku University Hospital in 2005-2015. Cox regression analysis was used. Tumor TNM classification, age at baseline and tobacco smoking status were assessed as potential confounders. Results: A history of severe harmful alcohol use with major somatic complications (HR: 1.41; 95%CI: 1.06-1.87; p = 0.017) as well as current use of at least 10 units per week (HR: 1.44, 95%CI: 1.16-1.78; p = 0.001) were associated with OS.Conclusions: Alcohol consumption of 10-20 units/week, often regarded as moderate use, was found to increase risk of mortality independent of other prognostic variables. Systematic screening of risk level alcohol use and prognostic evaluation of alcohol brief intervention strategies is highly recommended.

Epidemiological Study of p16 Incidence in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma 2005–2015 in a Representative Northern European Population

“…Descriptive statistics of patient characteristics are shown in Table 1 . In addition, the survival effect of selected variables was calculated and reported based on a prognostic model previously described by Denissoff et al [ 33 ]. The mean and median follow-up times were 38.6 and 49.3 months, respectively.…”

“…Information about known risk factors, such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, along with T-class and tumor stage were collected, as these factors are associated with more aggressive HNSCC and poorer survival rates [ 2 , 21 , 24 , 33 ]. The indisputable impact on survival was also shown in this study, as each factor was associated with a worse prognosis.…”

“…In this study, a population-based cohort was composed of all new HNSCC patients who were treated between 2005 and 2015 in the Southwest Finland tertiary referral center of Turku University Hospital (TUH). The study protocol is shown in Figure 1 and in previous studies [ 32 , 33 ]. TNM criteria were used to stage tumors at the time of diagnosis.…”

Healthy lifestyle and cancer survival: A multinational cohort study

“…These factors were defined in accordance with previous studies (Table S1). Healthy levels of smoking and alcohol consumption were defined as never smokers and light drinkers (<28 g/day for men and <14 g/day for women 18–20 ) calculated from self‐reported frequency and current alcohol consumption, respectively. Regarding diet, dietary intake was obtained from 24‐h dietary recalls, and the quality was assessed by Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI‐2015) scores in US NHANES 21 .…”

Identification of stemness-related glycosylation changes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

“…Over 90% of head and neck cancer are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). The incidence rates of HNSCC are on the rise, due to population aging and the ongoing human papilloma virus (HPV) epidemic [ 1 , 2 ], whereas the traditional risk factors associated with mutagenic exposure of the mucosal lining of the upper aerodigestive tract still play an important role both as risk factors and markers for adverse survival of HNSCC [ 3 ].…”