Table 2.
Main characteristics of the study variables at the end of the follow-up time and associations with patient status (deceased and censored).
| Variables | Deceased n = 43 (45.7%) |
Censored n = 51 (53.3%) |
Total n = 94 (100%) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||
| Male, n (%) | 34 (79.1%) | 45 (88.2%) | 79 (84%) | 0.227 |
| Female, n (%) | 9 (20.9%) | 6 (11.8%) | 15 (16%) | |
| Mean age; years (SD) | 60.9 (10.9) | 61.1 (10.1) | 61.5 (10.6) | 0.928 |
| Smoking status | ||||
| Smokers, n (%) | 33 (76.7%) | 38 (74.5%) | 71 (75.5%) | 0.802 |
| Non-smokers, n (%) | 10 (23.3%) | 13 (25.5%) | 23 (24.5%) | |
| Mean duration of smoking; years (SD) | 35.1 (11.8) | 33.2 (12.2) | 34 (12) | 0.489 |
| HNSCC site | ||||
| Oral, n (%) | 19 (44.2%) | 15 (29.4%) | 34 (36.2%) | 0.138 |
| Laryngeal, n (%) | 24 (55.8%) | 36 (70.6%) | 60 (63.8%) | |
| TNM stage | ||||
| Stage I, n (%) | 4 (9.3%) | 8 (15.7%) | 12 (12.8%) | 0.304 |
| Stage II, n (%) | 1 (2.3%) | 1 (2%) | 2 (2.1%) | |
| Stage III, n (%) | 8 (18.6%) | 16 (31.4%) | 24 (25.5%) | |
| Stage IV, n (%) | 30 (69.8%) | 26 (51%) | 56 (59.6%) | |
| Therapy | ||||
| Chemotherapy only, n (%) | 5 (11.6%) | 3 (5.9%) | 8 (8.5%) | 0.568 |
| Radiotherapy only, n (%) | 1 (2.3%) | 3 (5.9%) | 4 (4.3%) | |
| Both *, n (%) | 23 (53.5%) | 31 (60.6%) | 54 (57.4%) | |
| None, n (%) | 14 (32.6%) | 14 (27.5%) | 28 (29.8%) | |
| Saliva-based cf-nDNA median mega copies/mL |
7.2 | 6.01 | 6.8 | 0.047 |
| Saliva-based cf-mtDNA median mega copies/mL |
5.5 | 2.9 | 4.7 | <0.0005 |
SD: standard deviation, * both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.