Table 1.
Patient and tumor characteristics.
| Moderate/Severe | Univariate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Patients N=97 (%) |
No/Mild Dysphagia (DIGEST* <2) N=67 (%) |
Dysphagia (DIGEST ≥2) N=30 (%) |
Analysis P-value |
|
| Age, median | 61 | 60 | 62 | 0.296 |
| (range), (95% CI) | (35–86),(59-62) | (35–82),(58–62) | (40–86),(59–66) | |
| Sex | 0.142 | |||
| Male | 88(91) | 59(67) | 29(33) | |
| Female | 9(9) | 8(89) | 1(11) | |
| Subsite | 0.667 | |||
| Base of Tongue | 45(46) | 30(67) | 15(33) | |
| Tonsil | 38(39) | 27(71) | 11(29) | |
| Others | 14(15) | 10(71) | 4(29) | |
| T Stage*** | <0.0001** | |||
| 0 | 7(7) | 7(100) | 0 | |
| 1 | 31(32) | 27(87) | 4(13) | |
| 2 | 32(33) | 22(69) | 10(31) | |
| 3 | 13(13) | 8(61) | 5(39) | |
| 4 | 14(14) | 3(21) | 11(79) | |
| N Stage*** | 0.286 | |||
| x-1 | 19(20) | 15(79) | 4(21) | |
| 2–3 | 78(80) | 52(67) | 26(33) | |
| Treatment Modalities | 0.0006** | |||
| Radiotherapy alone | 16 (16) | 14(87) | 2(13) | |
| CCRT Only | 57(59) | 44(77) | 13(23) | |
| Combined IC+CCRT |
23(23) | 9(39) | 14(61) | |
| Radiotherapy | 0.542 | |||
| Definitive | 88(91) | 60(68) | 28(32) | |
| Post-op | 9(9) | 7(78) | 2(22) | |
| Smoking Status | 0.163 | |||
| Former Smoker | 40(41) | 31(77) | 9(23) | |
| Current Smoker | 6(6) | 5(83) | 1(17) | |
| Never Smoker | 51(53) | 31(60) | 20(40) | |
| HPV/P16 Status | 0.935 | |||
| Positive | 90(93) | 62(69) | 28(31) | |
| Negative | 3(3) | 2(67) | 1(33) | |
| Unknown | 4(4) | 3(75) | 1(25) | |
| Baseline Dysphagia Grade (per DIGEST) | 0.033** | |||
| 0 | 65(67) | 50(77) | 15(23) | |
| 1 | 25(26) | 14(56) | 11(44) | |
| 2 | 5(5) | 3(60) | 2(40) | |
| 3 | 2(2) | 0 | 2(100) | |
|
Total RT Dose
(Gy) |
70(70–50) | 68(67–69) | 69(68–70) | 0.041** |
*
DIGEST per 3–6 months post-RT modified barium swallowing study
**
Statistically significant P-value < 0.05
***
TNM classification per AJCC staging 7th edition
Abbreviations: DIGEST; Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity, CCRT; concurrent chemo/radiotherapy, IC; induction chemotherapy, RT; radiotherapy.