Background: The main goal of this study was to evaluate the prognosis of young patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with a focus on the value of the pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR).
Materials and methods: Young (≤40 years old) patients with oral SCC were retrospectively enrolled, and each young patient was matched with an old (≥60 years old) oral SCC patient. Associations between the NLR and clinicopathological variables were analyzed by the chi-square test, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze recurrence-free survival (RFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates.
Results: A total of 103 young patients were enrolled, and compared to the old group, the young group had a significantly lower NLR value (p=0.012). In the young group, the 5-year RFS and DSS rates were 82% and 85%, respectively. In the old group, the 5-year RFS and DSS rates were 65% and 71%, respectively, and the differences between the groups were significant (both p<0.05). In the young patients with an NLR≤2.56, the 5-year DSS rate was 93%, while in the young patients with an NLR >2.56, the 5-year DSS rate was 76%. This difference was significant (p=0.020). A further Cox model analysis confirmed that the NLR was an independent prognostic factor for DSS.
Conclusion: Young patients with oral SCC have a better prognosis than old oral SCC patients, and the NLR is significantly associated with DSS in young patients.
Keywords: head and neck cancer; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; oral squamous cell carcinoma; survival analysis; young patient.