Table 2.

Tumor characteristics for the three patient groups

Characteristic	No feeding tube (n = 42)	Tube before RT (n = 23)	Tube during/after RT (n = 32)	p-value
Tumor Location
Tonsil	23 (54.8%)	8 (34.8%)	18 (56.3%)	0.23
Base of Tongue	18 (42.9%)	12 (52.2%)	11 (34.4%)
Other	1 (2.4%)	3 (13.0%)	3 (9.4%)
Tumor Laterality
Right	21 (50.0%)	9 (39.1%)	17 (53.1%)	0.67
Left	18 (42.9%)	11 (47.8%)	14 (43.8%)
Bilateral	3 (7.1%)	3 (13.0%)	1 (3.1%)
Perineural Invasion
Yes	3 (8.8%)	7 (31.8%)	4 (14.3%)	0.089
No	31 (91.2%)	15 (68.2%)	24 (85.7%)
Vascular Invasion
Yes	10 (27.0%)	8 (25%)	3 (11.1%)	0.095
No	27 (73.0%)	14 (75%)	24 (88.9%)
Lymphatic Invasion
Yes	16 (43.2%)	15 (68.2%)	10 (34.5%)	0.054
No	21 (56.8%)	7 (31.8%)	19 (65.5%)
Extracapsular Extension
Positive	35 (87.5%)	21 (91.3%)	26 (81.3%)	0.56
Negative	5 (12.5%)	2 (8.7%)	6 (18.7%)
Soft Tissue Metastases
Yes	20 (64.5%)	14 (66.7%)	17 (65.4%)	1.00
No	11 (35.5%)	7 (33.3%)	9 (34.6%)
Tumor Size (cm)
Median (range)	2.0 (0.2 – 6.0)	4.0 (1.2 – 12.0)	2.25 (0.5 – 6.6)	0.0014
Tumor Depth (cm)
Median (range)	0.75 (0.05 – 5.0)	1.2 (0.45 – 4.5)	0.65 (0.12 – 1.9)	0.014
Pathologic T stage
T1	23 (54.8%)	2 (8.7%)	13 (40.6%)	<0.0001
T2	14 (33.3%)	5 (21.7%)	17 (53.1%)
T3	3 (7.1%)	6 (26.1%)	2 (6.3%)
T4a	2 (4.8%)	10 (43.5%)	0 (0%)
Largest Lymph Node (cm)
Median (range)	3.0 (1.3 – 6.0)	3.7 (0.7 – 6.0)	3.3 (0.6 – 7.5)	0.67
Total Number of Metastatic Lymph Nodes
Median (range)	2 (1 – 15)	4 (1 – 25)	2 (1 – 40)	0.19
Pathologic N stage
N1	9 (21.4%)	2 (8.7%)	7 (21.9%)	0.072
N2a	9 (21.4%)	4 (17.4%)	2 (6.3%)
N2b	20 (47.6%)	11 (47.8%)	16 (50.0%)
N2c	4 (9.5%)	6 (26.1%)	3 (9.4%)
N3	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4 (12.5%)
Pathologic stage
III	9 (21.4%)	1 (4.3%)	7 (21.9%)	0.016
IVA	33 (79.6%)	22 (95.7%)	21 (65.6%)
IVB	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4 (12.5%)

Bold p-values indicate statistical significane at p < 0.05.