Table 1.
Patient demographic and baseline characteristics
| Characteristics | All (n = 204) | Initial plasma EBV DNA status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undetectable (n = 94) | Detectable (n = 110) | P-value | ||
| Age, median (range), years | 49 (11–78) | 47 (19–78) | 51 (11–75) | 0.484 |
| Sex | 0.874 | |||
| Male | 150 (73.5%) | 70 (74.5%) | 80 (72.7%) | |
| Female | 54 (26.5%) | 24 (25.5%) | 30 (27.3%) | |
| Karnofsky performance status | 0.211 | |||
| ≥90 | 202 (99%) | 92 (97.9%) | 110 (100%) | |
| <90 | 2 (1%) | 2 (2.1%) | ||
| Histology (WHO classification) | 0.536 | |||
| Type I (keratinizing SCCAa) | 3 (1.5%) | 1 (1.1%) | 2 (1.8%) | |
| Type IIA (NKa, differentiated SCCAa) | 21 (10.3%) | 9 (9.6%) | 12 (10.9%) | |
| Type IIB (NKa, undifferentiated SCCAa) | 178 (87.2%) | 82 (87.2%) | 96 (87.3%) | |
| Type III (basaloid SCCAa) or other | 2 (1%) | 2 (2.1%) | ||
| T stage | 0.007 | |||
| 1–2 | 118 (57.8%) | 64 (68.1%) | 54 (49.1%) | |
| 3–4 | 86 (42.2%) | 30 (31.9%) | 56 (50.9%) | |
| N stage | 0.051 | |||
| 0–1 | 64 (31.4%) | 36 (38.3%) | 28 (25.5%) | |
| 2–3 | 140 (80.6%) | 58 (61.7%) | 82 (74.5%) | |
| AJCCa stage grouping | 0.036 | |||
| I | 2 (1%) | 2 (2.1%) | ||
| II | 31 (15.2%) | 21 (22.3%) | 10 (9.1%) | |
| III | 112 (54.9%) | 47 (50%) | 65 (59.1%) | |
| IVA | 38 (18.6%) | 15 (16%) | 23 (20.9%) | |
| IVB | 21 (10.3%) | 9 (9.6%) | 12 (10.9%) | |
aFisher's exact test; NK = non-keratinizing, SCCA = squamous cell carcinoma, AJCC = American Joint Committee on Cancer.