Table 2.
Cohort characteristics.
| Baseline Characteristics | All | Alive | Dead | p-Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 398 | N = 356 | N = 42 | ||
| Sex—male, n (%) | 291 (73.1%) | 256 (71.9%) | 35 (83.3%) | 0.16 |
| Age—yrs, median (IQR) | 50.9 (44.5–57.0) | 50.6 (43.9–56.6) | 53.8 (45.9–60.2) | 0.08 |
| Follow-up period—yrs, median (IQR) | 2.3 (1.1–3.6) | 2.3 (1.2–3.6) | 1.4 (0.7–3.3) | 0.02 |
| GNRI—point, median (IQR) | 92.4 (83.1–99.5) | 93.2 (83.4–99.9) | 86.9 (78.3–95.5) | 0.02 |
| GNRI strata | 0.10 | |||
| >98—Absent risk | 128 (32.2%) | 119 (33.4%) | 9 (21.4%) | |
| >92, ≤98—Mild risk | 77 (19.3%) | 71 (19.9%) | 6 (14.3%) | |
| >82, ≤92—Moderate risk | 104 (26.1%) | 92 (25.8%) | 12 (28.6%) | |
| ≤82—Severe risk | 89 (22.4%) | 74 (20.8%) | 15 (35.7%) | |
| PNI—point, median (IQR) | 42.6 (36.5–47.2) | 42.8 (37.1–47.3) | 38.9 (34.0–43.3) | 0.02 |
| PNI strata | 0.03 | |||
| >38—Absent risk | 278 (69.8%) | 256 (71.9%) | 22 (52.4%) | |
| >35, ≤38—Moderate risk | 38 (9.5%) | 31 (8.7%) | 7 (16.7%) | |
| ≤35—Severe risk | 82 (20.6%) | 69 (19.4%) | 13 (31.0%) | |
| CONUT—point, median (IQR) | 3.0 (2.0–5.0) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | 4.0 (2.0–6.0) | 0.01 |
| CONUT strata | 0.05 | |||
| 0~1—Absent risk | 99 (24.9%) | 92 (25.8%) | 7 (16.7%) | |
| 2~4—Mild risk | 187 (47.0%) | 171 (48.0%) | 16 (38.1%) | |
| 5~8—Moderate risk | 90 (22.6%) | 76 (21.3%) | 14 (33.3%) | |
| 9~12—Severe risk | 22 (5.5%) | 17 (4.8%) | 5 (11.9%) | |
| Height—cm, mean (SD) | 165.4 (7.3) | 165.2 (7.3) | 166.9 (7.0) | 0.15 |
| Weight—kg, mean (SD) | 59.1 (10.7) | 59.3 (10.9) | 57.1 (8.4) | 0.12 |
| BMI—kg/m2, mean (SD) | 21.5 (3.2) | 21.7 (3.2) | 20.5 (3.0) | 0.03 |
| Tumor progression before RN—Yes, n (%) | 47 (11.8%) | 40 (11.2%) | 7 (16.7%) | 0.31 |
| Lower cranial nerves injury—Yes, n (%) | 177 (44.5%) | 150 (42.1%) | 27 (64.3%) | 0.01 |
| Hypertension—Yes, n (%) | 47 (11.8%) | 41 (11.5%) | 6 (14.3%) | 0.61 |
| Diabetes—Yes, n (%) | 15 (3.8%) | 14 (3.9%) | 1 (2.4%) | >0.99 |
| Stroke—Yes, n (%) | 33 (8.3%) | 29 (8.1%) | 4 (9.5%) | 0.77 |
| Cigarette Smoking—Yes, n (%) | 57 (14.3%) | 52 (14.6%) | 5 (11.9%) | 0.81 |
| Alcohol consumption—Yes, n (%) | 24 (6.0%) | 20 (5.6%) | 4 (9.5%) | 0.30 |
| Laboratory tests—median (IQR) | ||||
| Red blood cells—×10^9/L | 4.4 (4.1–4.8) | 4.4 (4.1–4.8) | 4.5 (4.1–4.7) | 0.93 |
| Hemoglobin—g/L | 129.1 (16.5) | 129.6 (16.0) | 124.6 (19.5) | 0.12 |
| White blood cells—×10^9/L | 5.6 (4.5–7.0) | 5.6 (4.4–6.9) | 6.2 (4.7–7.6) | 0.15 |
| Neutrophils—×10^9/L | 3.7 (2.7–5.2) | 3.7 (2.7–5.0) | 4.6 (3.2–5.6) | 0.01 |
| Lymphocyte—×10^9/L | 1.2 (0.9–1.5) | 1.2 (0.9–1.6) | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 0.01 |
| Total cholesterol—mg/dL | 196 (167–222) | 197 (168–223) | 182 (159–205) | 0.07 |
| Albumin—g/L | 36.7 (30.1–40.5) | 36.8 (30.2–40.7) | 34.4 (28.2–38.3) | 0.09 |
| Brain MRI assessment—n (%) | ||||
| Bilateral necrosis | 181 (45.5%) | 158 (44.4%) | 23 (54.8%) | 0.27 |
| Involving ≥2 brain regions | 73 (18.3%) | 55 (15.4%) | 18 (42.9%) | <0.001 |
| Anti-RN treatment—n (%) | ||||
| Corticosteroids | 176 (44.2%) | 157 (44.1%) | 19 (45.2%) | >0.99 |
| Bevacizumab | 84 (21.1%) | 78 (21.9%) | 6 (14.3%) | 0.34 |
| None of the above | 168 (42.2%) | 148 (41.6%) | 20 (47.6%) | 0.56 |
| Time from RT to RN—yrs, median (IQR) | 3.4 (2.5–6.2) (n = 283) |
3.4 (2.5–6.1) (n = 254) |
3.4 (3.0–8.0) (n = 29) |
0.21 |
| TNM stage—n (%) | 0.78 | |||
| I | 5/272 (1.8%) | 5/244 (2.0%) | 0/28 (0.0%) | |
| II | 22/272 (8.1%) | 20/244 (8.2%) | 2/28 (7.1%) | |
| III | 138/272 (50.7%) | 121/244 (49.6%) | 17/28 (60.7%) | |
| IV | 107/272 (39.3%) | 98/244 (40.2%) | 9/28 (32.1%) | |
| RT technique—IMRT, n (%) | 156/261 (59.8%) | 146/234 (62.4%) | 10/27 (37.0%) | 0.02 |
| Tumor RT dose—Gy, mean (SD) | 69.1 (7.6) (n = 266) |
69.2 (6.9) (n = 239) |
68.7 (12.6) (n = 27) |
0.84 |
| Neck RT dose—Gy, mean (SD) | 54.0 (22.8) (n = 278) |
54.2 (22.6) (n = 250) |
52.4 (25.1) (n = 28) |
0.73 |
| Chemotherapy—n (%) | 231/277 (83.4%) | 209/249 (83.9%) | 22/28 (78.6%) | 0.43 |
| Neoadjuvant | 123/277 (44.4%) | 112/249 (45.0%) | 11/28 (39.3%) | 0.71 |
| Concurrent | 190/277 (68.6%) | 175/249 (70.3%) | 15/28 (53.6%) | 0.11 |
| Adjuvant | 18/277 (6.5%) | 15/249 (6.0%) | 3/28 (10.7%) | 0.41 |
Abbreviations: GNRI, Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index; PNI, Prognostic Nutritional Index; CONUT, Controlling Nutritional Status; BMI, Body Mass Index; SD, Standard deviation; IQR, Interquartile range; RT, Radiotherapy; RN, Radiation-induced brain necrosis; IMRT, Intensity-modulated radiation therapy; MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging.