Researchers at the U-M Health System have found a new indicator that may predict which patients with a common type of throat cancer are most likely have the cancer spread to other parts of their bodies.
Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had “matted” lymph nodes — nodes that are connected together — had a 69 percent survival rate over three years, compared to 94 percent for patients without matted nodes, according to a study published online ahead of print publication in Head & Neck.
The oropharynx is an area that includes the back of the tongue, soft palate, throat and tonsils.
“The spread of cancer throughout the body accounts for about 45 percent of the deaths from oropharyngeal carcinoma,” says the study’s senior author, Dr. Douglas Chepeha, an associate professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the Medical School. “Our findings may help doctors identify patients who are at higher risk for having their cancer metastasize and who would benefit from additional systemic therapy. Conversely, some patients without matted nodes may benefit from a reduction of the current standard treatment, which would cut down on uncomfortable side effects.”
“It’s not clear why we’re finding these survival differences for patients who have matted nodes,” says study lead author Dr. Matthew Spector, a head and neck surgery resident at U-M who won a national award from the American Head and Neck Society for this work. “It is possible that there are biological and molecular differences in these types of tumors, which can be explored in future research.”
Additional U-M authors: Dr.K. Kelly Gallagher, Emily Light, Dr. Mohannad Ibrahim, Eric Chanowski, Dr. Jeffrey Moyer, Dr. Mark Prince, Dr. Gregory Wolf, Dr. Carol Bradford, Dr. Kitrina Cordell, Dr. Jonathan McHugh, Thomas Carey, Dr. Francis Worden and Dr. Avraham Eisbruch.
