Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the main variables concerning patients and neoplasm parameters.
| Characteristic | No. of patients (%) N = 209 |
| Sex | |
| Male | 177 (84.7) |
| Female | 32 (15.3) |
| Age | |
| Median, years | 65 |
| Range, years | 28–95 |
| ≤50 | 25 |
| >50 | 184 |
| Smoking1 | |
| Never | 40 (19.1) |
| ≤400 | 32 (15.3) |
| >400 | 137 (65.6) |
| Alcohol use2 | |
| Never | 37 (17.7) |
| ≤50 | 74 (35.4) |
| >50 | 98 (46.9) |
| Primary treatment | |
| Curative treatment | 168 (80.4) |
| CCRT | 73 |
| Surgery with RT or CRT | 51 |
| Surgery | 27 |
| RT | 17 |
| Palliative treatment | 30 (14.3) |
| No treatment | 11 (5.3) |
| T classification | |
| T1 | 19 (9.1) |
| T2 | 78 (37.3) |
| T3 | 61 (29.2) |
| T4 | 51 (24.4) |
| Nodal status, n (%) | |
| N0 or N1 | 114 (54.5) |
| N2 or N3 | 95 (45.6) |
| TNM stage | |
| Early (I and II) | 52 (24.9) |
| Advanced (III and IV) | 157 (75.1) |
| Differentiation | |
| Well | 93 (44.5) |
| Moderate | 87 (41.6) |
| Poor | 29 (13.9) |
| Tumor location | |
| Hypopharynx | 50 (23.9) |
| Oropharynx | 74 (35.4) |
| Oral cavity | 37 (17.7) |
| Larynx | 28 (13.4) |
| Nasopharynx | 20 (9.6) |
| HPV3 DNA | |
| Negative | 146 (69.9) |
| HPV-16 | 53 (25.3) |
| HPV-33 | 4 (1.9) |
| Other (e.g., HPV-35, HPV-56, HPV-58, and HPV-67) | 6 (2.9) |
| EBV4 DNA | |
| Negative | 63 (30.1) |
| Type A | 107 (51.2) |
| Type B | 27 (12.9) |
| Type A and B | 12 (5.8) |
1
Brinkman index: daily cigarettes × years.
2
Light drinker ≤50 g alcohol per day; heavy drinker>50 g alcohol per day.
3
HPV, human papillomavirus.
4
EBNA, Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen.