Patterns of care and outcomes of adjuvant therapy for high-risk head and neck cancer after surgery.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is considered standard of care in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer with positive margins and/or extracapsular extension (ECE). METHODS: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried to identify patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with stages III to IVB disease or with positive margins and/or ECE diagnosed between 2004 and 2012 receiving postoperative radiotherapy (RT). Using univariable and multivariable logistic and Cox regression, we assessed for predictors of CRT use and covariables impacting overall survival (OS), including in a propensity-matched subset. RESULTS: Of 12 224 patients, 67.1% with positive margins and/or ECE received CRT as well as 54.0% without positive margins and/or ECE. The 5-year OS was 61.6% for RT alone versus 67.4% for CRT. In the propensity-matched cohort, OS benefit persisted with CRT, including in a subset with positive margins and/or ECE but not without. CONCLUSION: Postoperative CRT seems underutilized with positive margins and/or ECE and overutilized without positive margins and/or ECE. The CRT was associated with improved OS but the benefit persisted only in the subset with positive margins and/or ECE.

Impact of aspirin on clinical outcomes for African American men with prostate cancer undergoing radiation.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Preclinical and clinical studies have suggested that aspirin (ASA) may exhibit antineoplastic activity. Particularly in prostate cancer, several reports have suggested that ASA plays a role in improved outcomes. Therefore, we studied the role of ASA in a uniquely African American population, which is known to harbor more aggressive and biologically different disease compared to the general population. METHODS: We identified 289 African American men with prostate cancer who were treated with definitive radiation therapy to a dose of ≥7560 cGy. The median follow-up was 76 months. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to analyze biochemical failure-free survival (bFFS), distant progression-free survival (DMPFS), and prostate cancer-specific survival (PCSS). Multivariate Cox regression was used to analyze the impact of covariates on all endpoints. RESULTS: There were 147 men who were ASA+ and 142 who were ASA-. The 7-year bFFS was 80.9% for ASA+ men and 70.3% for ASA- men (p = 0.03). On multivariate analysis, ASA use was associated with a significant reduction in biochemical recurrences (hazard ratio [HR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34-0.93, p = 0.03). The 7-year DMPFS was 98.4% for ASA+ and 91.8% for ASA- men (p = 0.04). On multivariate analysis, ASA use was associated with a decreased risk of distant metastases (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.91, p = 0.04). The 7-year PCSS was 99.3% for ASA+ and 96.9% for ASA- men (p = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, ASA use was associated with improved biochemical outcomes and reduced distant metastases. This indicates that ASA appears to play an important antineoplastic role in African American men.