Head-and-neck cancer: Survival analysis of patients treated in a tertiary cancer hospital in Mumbai

The main objective of this study is to report on the survival rates of head-and-neck cancer cases seen in Tata memorial hospital (TMH). In the present study comprises of a large number of head-and-neck cancer cases seen in TMH, Mumbai, during the years 2012– 14. The study included 4351 oral cancer, 766 oropharyngeal cancer, 612 hypopharyngeal cancer, 544 laryngeal cancers, and 244 nasopharyngeal cancer. TNM group staging was used to determine the clinical extent of disease.[2] In the study, a major proportion of patients were diagnosed in Stage III and stage IV, except in vocal cord and to a lesser extent in lower lip and anterior tongue. Thus, the treatment offered is either only surgery or in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The overall 3-year survival rates for oral cancer were 26–43%, 23–33% for oropharyngeal cancer, 22–28% for hypoharyngeal cancer, 28–53% for laryngeal cancers, and 44% for nasopharyngeal cancer. Prognosis differed by site of disease and subsites in this study. The differences in outcome are an indicator of the scope of prevention activities that could be reiterated for better prognosis of head-and-neck cancer.