Demographic Profile and Treatment Response Evaluation of Head and Neck Cancer Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Punjab, India

Abstract

Background: Head and neck cancers (HNC) are the malignant tumours of oral cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx and salivary glands. Incidence of HNC across the geographical area is highly variable and there is also variability in the management of these patients.
Aim and Objectives: To study the demographic profile, sites involved, histopathological pattern and treatment response evaluation of HNC at SGRD Cancer Hospital, Amritsar.
Material and Methods: This is a retrospective observational study conducted at Sri Guru Ram Das Cancer Hospital, Amritsar, Punjab. Data was collected retrospectively from the year 2018 to 2019. Only histopathologically confirmed cases of malignancies of head and neck were included in this study. Treatment response evaluation was done at 3 months post treatment using radiological imaging (RECIST1.1)
Results: A total of 200 cases were included in the study. There were 163 (81.5%) males and 37 (18.5%) female patients. The most common site involved was found to be oral cavity (55%) followed by larynx (10.5%) and hypopharynx (10.5%). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most common histopathology in all the HNC. After 3 months, post treatment, 69.50% patients were found to have complete response, 24.5% partial response, 4% progressive and 2% stable disease.
Conclusion: This study reveals that prevalence and treatment outcome of HNC is almost uniform across India as was observed in other studies. This study also highlights the high prevalence of HNC in Punjab that entails the need for early detection, multimodality treatment approach and compliance of patients for better outcome.