Having a history of smoking affects survival in people with head and neck cancer, say researchers in an article in the Oct. 1 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers matched 50 patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, or SCCHN, who had smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes to 50 current or former smokers according to sex, age, tumor site, overall stage, nodal stage and treatment. They performed survival analysis on the subjects and compared matched-pair survival rates.
Researchers found that non-smokers were three times more likely to have better overall survival, disease-specific survival and recurrence-free survival rates than smokers. They also noted that potential fundamental differences in SCCHN between smokers and nonsmokers may exist.
"These findings support previous studies indicating that molecular differences exist between the tumors of smokers and nonsmokers and may actually reflect two separate types of head and neck cancer," said senior author Erich M. Sturgis, M.D., M.P.H., of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. "Our study suggests that the changes that occur in smokers may lead to a more aggressive form of the disease that results in poorer survival."
Researchers concluded that further molecular characterization of these tumors is needed to determine whether biological differences needing targeted therapies exist.
