Distant metastasis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma variants: A population-based study.

Abstract

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with distant metastasis (DM) has poor prognosis. HNSCC has several histological variants with varying characteristics. We investigated the DM rates and prognoses of patients with DM among the HNSCC variants. We obtained data from 54 722 cases using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Odds ratios (ORs) for DM and hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) were estimated using a logistic regression model and a Cox proportional hazard model, respectively. DM rate was the lowest in verrucous carcinoma and the highest in basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) (0.2% and 9.4%, respectively). ORs for DM were 3.63 for adenosquamous carcinoma, 6.80 for BSCC, and 3.91 for spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC). SpCC was significantly associated with a poor OS (HR, 1.61). DM rates differed among the HNSCC variants. The prognosis of metastatic SpCC is worse than that of other metastatic HNSCCs.