Table 4. Stratified Cox proportional hazard model for the risk of death and the associated treatment modalities among recurrent HNSCC patients.
| Stratified Variables | Treatment modality | n | No. of deaths (%) | aHR* (95% CI) | n value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recurrent clinical stage | |||||
| Stage I and II | CT alone | 168 | 110 (65.48) | 1.00 | |
| Stage I and II | Re-RT alone | 78 | 50 (64.10) | 0.63 (0.45–0.89) | 0.009 |
| Stage I and II | CCRT | 338 | 209 (61.83) | 0.65 (0.52–0.83) | <0.001 |
| Stage I and II | Surgery ± RT/CT | 1121 | 541 (48.26) | 0.32 (0.26–0.40) | <0.001 |
| Stage III and IV | CT alone | 512 | 400 (78.13) | 1.00 | |
| Stage III and IV | Re-RT alone | 130 | 109 (83.85) | 1.23 (0.99–1.52) | 0.061 |
| Stage III and IV | CCRT | 566 | 440 (77.74) | 0.69 (0.60–0.79) | <0.001 |
| Stage III and IV | Surgery ± RT/CT | 1126 | 722 (64.12) | 0.39 (0.34–0.44) | <0.001 |
| Recurrent Cancer site | |||||
| Oral cavity | CT alone | 572 | 421 (73.60) | 1.00 | |
| Oral cavity | Re-RT alone | 180 | 137 (76.11) | 1.01 (0.83–1.23) | 0.952 |
| Oral cavity | CCRT | 797 | 572 (71.77) | 0.73 (0.64–0.83) | <0.001 |
| Oral cavity | Surgery ± RT/CT | 1932 | 1072 (55.49) | 0.38 (0.34–0.43) | <0.001 |
| Nonoral cavity | CT alone | 108 | 89 (82.41) | 1.00 | |
| Nonoral cavity | Re-RT alone | 28 | 22 (78.57) | 0.97 (0.59–1.58) | 0.891 |
| Nonoral cavity | CCRT | 107 | 77 (71.96) | 0.52 (0.39–0.71) | <0.001 |
| Nonoral cavity | Surgery ± RT/CT | 315 | 191 (60.63) | 0.33 (0.25–0.43) | <0.001 |
*HRs were adjusted by age, sex, CCI score, clinical stage at first diagnosis, and recurrence-free interval
Abbreviations: CT, chemotherapy; CCRT, concurrent chemoradiotherapy; CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; CI, confidence interval; aHR, adjusted hazard ratio; PY, person-years; RT, radiotherapy.