Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate how gross tumor volume (GTV) affects treatment outcome among different race/ethnic groups in patients with head and neck cancer receiving definitive radiotherapy (RT).
Methods: Ninety-one patients with head and neck cancer were treated to a median RT dose of 69.96 Gy in 33 fractions. The patient's self-reported race/ethnicity, primary tumor, and nodal GTV were obtained. Two-year actuarial local, nodal, and distant control, and overall and disease-free survival were calculated.
Results: The patients were categorized as white (n = 43) or non-white (n = 48), which included 29 African Americans, 11 Hispanics, 5 Asians, and 3 others. The mean primary GTV was 21.0 cc and 39.9 cc for whites and non-whites, respectively (p = .011). White patients reported improved overall survival of 85.4% compared to non-whites (65.8%; p = .006). Improvements in local and nodal control and disease-free survival rates were also observed.
Conclusion: White patients demonstrated improved treatment outcomes compared with non-whites, which may be reflective of tumor volume.
Keywords: ethnicity; gross tumor volume; head and neck cancer; race; radiotherapy.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.