Table 1.
Patient characteristics (n = 130)
| Variable | Total, n (%) | pN0, n (%) | pN + , n (%) | Pa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of patients | 130 (100) | 101 (77.7) | 29 (22.3) | |
| Sex, female | 46 (35.4) | 36 (35.6) | 10 (34.5) | 0.908 |
| Age (years), median (range) | 52 (20–84) | 51 (20–82) | 60 (21–84) | 0.088 |
| > 60 | 41 (31.5) | 27 (26.7) | 14 (48.3) | 0.028* |
| Tumour site, tongue | 107 (82.3) | 81 (80.2) | 26 (89.7) | 0.239 |
| Tumour size, cm | ||||
| ≤ 2 | 82 (63.1) | 67 (55.3) | 15 (51.7) | 0.077 |
| 2.1–4 | 43 (33.1) | 32 (31.7) | 11 (37.9) | |
| > 4 | 5 (3.8) | 2 (2.0) | 3 (10.3) | |
| Histological differentiation | ||||
| Well | 77 (59.2) | 67 (66.3) | 10 (34.5) | 0.007* |
| Moderate | 44 (33.8) | 29 (28.7) | 15 (51.7) | |
| Poor | 9 (6.9) | 5 (5.0) | 4 (13.8) | |
| Tumour invasion depth, mm | ||||
| ≤ 5 | 56 (43.1) | 44 (43.6) | 12 (41.4) | 0.730 |
| 5.1–10 | 45 (34.6) | 36 (35.6) | 9 (31.0) | |
| > 10 | 29 (22.3) | 21 (20.8) | 8 (27.6) | |
| Lymphovascular invasion | 20 (15.4) | 12 (11.9) | 8 (27.6) | 0.039* |
| T classification | ||||
| T1–T2 | 122 (93.8) | 97 (96.0) | 25 (86.2) | 0.052* |
| T3–T4 | 8 (6.2) | 4 (4.0) | 4 (13.8) | |
| Treatment | ||||
| Surgery | 84 (64.6) | 78 (77.2) | 6 (20.7) | < 0.001* |
| Surgery + RT or CRT | 46 (35.4) | 23 (22.8) | 23 (79.3) | |
| Follow-up | ||||
| Median (range), months | 46 (4–100) | 47 (4–100) | 40 (8–95) | 0.308 |
| Any-site recurrence | 27 (20.8) | 17 (16.8) | 10 (34.5) | 0.039* |
| Last status, DOD or DOC | 17 (13.1) | 8 (7.9) | 9 (31.0) | 0.001* |
| Estimated mean survival, months | 87.8 | 92.4 | 69.9 | 0.002* |
CRT chemoradiotherapy; DOC died of other cause; DOD died of disease; pN0/pN + pathological lymph node negativity/positivity; RT radiotherapy; TNM tumour–node–metastasis staging according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC, 7th ed.)
aχ2 test except for age and median follow-up (t test), *P < 0.05