Nachalon Y, et al. - The variations between patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma under 40 years old and those 40 years old or older were comprehensively investigated during this trial. Furthermore, the authors compared the survival outcome between these cohorts. A lower prevalence of classic risk factors was illustrated in younger patients with laryngeal carcinoma. This data indicated a different etiology than the older cohort. The under-40 group of enrollees displayed a more advanced disease and a worse 5-year survival. Notable variation, however, was brought to light in the overall or 5-year survival between the groups when stratified for early- vs late-stage disease. This possibly pointed towards a similarity in the behavior of laryngeal cancer among older and younger patients, regardless of a different etiology.

Methods

• The scheme of this research was a retrospective chart review.
• An appraisal was performed of the medical charts of all patients treated in the tertiary referral center for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, between 2005 to 2014.
• A comparative analysis was conducted between patients aged < 40 years at diagnosis and older patients.

Results

• The eligible enrollees consisted of 160 patients.
• Thirteen patients were aged < 40 years at diagnosis. It was noted that the mean age was 35 ± 3.9 years and 64.4 ± 11 years for the two groups.
• Among the younger patients, 38% were found to be smokers (mean pack/day, 2.2) vs 71% in the older group (mean pack/day, 3).
• The younger group typically displayed a more advanced stage than the older group at presentation; eight young patients (62%) had stage III or IV vs 49 (33%) in the older group (P=.042).
• Mean overall survival was disclosed to be 6.7 ± 1 years for those under 40 years old and 7.7 ± 0.2 years for the older patients (P =.2).
• The findings revealed that the 5-year survival rate was 69% for young patients and 90% for the older group (P =.04).
• Nevertheless, no prominent between-group variation was reported in the overall survival or 5-year survival rate when stratified for early- and late-stage disease.