Table 1 Patient characteristics
From: Physicians’ clinical prediction of survival in head and neck cancer patients in the palliative phase
Included | Excluded | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
No. of patients | 191 | 127 | – |
Median age, years (Q1 – Q3) | 64.0 (57.0–76.0) | 64.0 (55.0–69.0) | 0.142 |
Age range, years | 23–100 | 42–91 | – |
Sex | |||
Men | 138 (72.3%) | 96 (75.6%) | 0.508 |
Women | 53 (27.7%) | 31 (24.4%) | |
Tumor localization | |||
Lip | 0 | 1 (0.8%) | |
Oral cavity | 54 (28.3%) | 35 (27.6%) | |
Oropharynx | 54 (28.3%) | 40 (31.5%) | |
Nasopharynx | 4 (2.1%) | 5 (3.9%) | – |
Hypopharynx | 26 (13.6%) | 15 (11.8%) | |
Larynx | 33 (17.3%) | 17 (13.4%) | |
Nasal cavity | 3 (1.6%) | 5 (3.9%) | |
Maxillary sinus | 5 (2.6%) | 2 (1.6%) | |
Salivary gland | 2 (1.0%) | 0 | |
Unknown primary | 10 (5.2%) | 7 (5.5%) | |
Tumor stage | |||
I - III | 15 (7.9%) | 16 (12.5%) | |
IVa | 55 (28.8%) | 41 (32.3%) | – |
IVb | 31 (16.2%) | 15 (11.8%) | |
IVc | 90 (47.1%) | 55 (43.3%) | |
ACE-27 | |||
0 | 46 (24.1%) | 31 (24.4%) | |
1 | 61 (31.9%) | 31 (24.4%) | 0.401 |
2 | 53 (27.7%) | 37 (29.1%) | |
3 | 31 (16.2%) | 28 (22.0%) | |
Cause incurable disease | |||
No curative treatment possible | 172 (90.1%) | 105 (82.7%) | 0.055 |
Patients’ choice | 19 (9.9%) | 22 (17.3%) | |
Palliative sedation | 68 (35.6%) | 32 (25.2%) | 0.050 |
Euthanasia | 0 | 27 (21.3%) | – |
Carotid blowout syndrome | 9 (4.7%) | 5 (3.9%) | – |
Suicide | 0 | 1 (0.8%) | – |
Median survival, weeks (95% CI) | 12.0 (9.3–14.7) | 12.0 (7.7–16.3) | 0.753 |