Clinical study of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy and postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective Using propensity score matching method (PSM) to investigate the clinical effect of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy and postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods From July 2007 to July 2018,174 postoperative patients with locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in pre-PSM cohort, including 168 males and 6 females, the median age was 60 years old (ranged from 37 to 79 years old).Loco-regional control (LRC),progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared and analyzed between the patients treated with postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy and postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cisplatin was given in a dose of 80 mg/m2 on days 1, 22, and 43). After the propensity score matching (PSM), 61 sub-pairs of 122 patients were generated in post-PSM cohort. Survival rate were assessed with Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test. Results After the propensity score matching(PSM), 61 sub-pairs of 122 patients were generated in post-PSM cohort.The patients were followed up for 3-135 months, the median follow-up was 42 months. No significant differences in 3-year and 5-year LRC, PFS, OS were observed between the two groups (P>0.05) . For postoperative patients who had high-risk factors (extracapsular extension of nodal disease, and/or vascular embolism, and/or lymph node metastasis≥2, and/or positive surgical margin, and/or perineural infiltration),there were significant differences between the two groups in 3-year PFS (60.99% vs 84.49%,P 0.05). Conclusion Postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy was more efficacious than postoperative radiotherapy alone in terms of loco-regional control and PFS for high-risk postoperative patients with locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Key words: Neoplasm staging; Carcinoma, squamous cell; Radiotherapy; Chemoradiotherapy, adjuvant; Survival rate