P0115 Survival of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer: A nationwide data analysis in Taiwan

Abstract

Background Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is endemic in Taiwan. Using a nationwide population-based data, we reported the contemporary survival outcome of patients with NPC and analysed the factors affecting survival. Methods This retrospective cohort study used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, which covers approximately 99% of the population of over 23.74 million people in Taiwan. We identified 13,407 patients with newly diagnosed NPC during 2002–2010. We used the Kaplan–Meier method to compare the probability of survival among different groups and log-rank test was used to examine the differences. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using Cox hazard proportional model to assess the hazard ratio of mortality in NPC patients. Multivariate Cox hazard proportional model was used to measure the mortality-association risk factor in NPC patients after adjustment for NPC treatment and sociodemographic characteristics. Findings Among 13,407 NPC patients, 74.9% were male. The mean age at diagnosis was 50.5 years. Overall 1-, 2-, 5-, and 8-year survival rates were 89.6%, 80.4%, 65.2%, and 56.5%, respectively. The mean and median survival times were 3.38 and 2.83 years, respectively. Female patients had lower 1- and 5-year relative excess risk of mortality than male patients (1- and 5-year survival rates: 91.5% and 71.1% versus 88.9% and 63.3%; p Interpretation The contemporary 8-year overall survival rate for patients with NPC in Taiwan was 56.5%. Male patients, old age, residing in eastern Taiwan, low income, and receiving chemotherapy alone were independent predictors for poor overall survival in patients with NPC in Taiwan.