Prognostic value of pathological tumor size in patients with supraglottic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The association between pathological tumor size and predictive value in patients with supraglottic carcinoma who receive surgery is poorly understood. To gain further insight into this association, the influence of postoperative tumor size assessed via pathological evaluation on survival outcomes in patients with supraglottic carcinoma was fully analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study collected data from 375 consecutive supraglottic carcinoma patients who underwent primary surgical treatment between 2005 and 2010. The parameters of tumor size, including tumor diameter, tumor area, and tumor volume, were used to analyze the prognostic abilities of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in supraglottic carcinoma. RESULTS: Twelve women and 363 men were included, with a mean age of 61.2 years. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were 65.4% and 56.2%, respectively. The mean tumor diameter, tumor area, and tumor volume of all patients was 3.1 cm, 8.6 cm2, and 9.1 cm3, respectively. Tumors with higher pT stages had a larger tumor diameter, tumor area, and tumor volume. These three factors were significantly correlated with pT stage, and tumor volume was the strongest factor contributing to pT stage. Patients with a larger tumor diameter, tumor area, and tumor volume had worse OS and DFS. Tumor area and tumor volume were independent prognostic factors of OS and DFS in supraglottic carcinoma patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a larger tumor size have inferior survival outcomes, and tumor area and tumor volume are independent predictive parameters of survival in supraglottic carcinoma patients who are treated with primary surgery.