Clinicopathologic Features and Survival Trends for Acinic Cell Carcinoma of the Major Salivary Glands: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Population Analysis.

BACKGROUND: We analyzed a population-based national registry to identify the most influential patient pretreatment and treatment factors affecting overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) in patients diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) of the major salivary glands. METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) related to survival, a total of 1,254 patients with diagnosed ACC of the major salivary glands from 1975 to 2016 met inclusion criteria. Factors significant for OS and CSS were determined using univariate and multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Univariate OS analysis demonstrated that surgery favorably influenced longer survival compared to no surgery (hazard ratio (HR) 2.35, P < 0.05). Patient age was found to be highly predictive of superior OS (divided into 10-year age bands, P < 0.0001, younger age better). In multivariate OS analysis, there were statistically significant worse outcomes for men (HR 1.54, P < 0.05), grades III/IV (HR 2.5, P < 0.05), and distant disease (HR 3.55, P < 0.05) or regional disease (HR 1.22, P < 0.05). Patients diagnosed during years 1996 - 2016 had better OS when compared to earlier decades 1975 - 1995 (HR 1.38, P < 0.05). In univariate analysis, the mean CSS for grades I, II, and III/IV were 429 months (95% confidence interval (CI), ± 38.39), 426 months (95% CI, ± 25.73) and 198 months (95% CI, ± 66.38). Multivariate analysis of CSS further demonstrated that there were statistically significant worse outcomes for men (HR 1.68, P < 0.05), grade III/IV (HR 3.2, P < 0.05), tumor size greater than 40 mm (P < 0.001), and distant disease (HR 4.48, P < 0.05) or regional disease (HR 1.84, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the largest population-based study of OS and CSS of major salivary gland ACC. We found that the patient pretreatment and treatment factors including younger age at diagnosis, female sex, early stage, lower grade, surgical excision, and recent year of diagnosis are associated with improved survival in patients diagnosed with ACC of the major salivary glands. We hope that this information will aid in construction of further research projects that better refine optimal treatment protocol of individualized patient care.

Overall and cause-specific survival for mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the major salivary glands: Analysis of 2210 patients.

BACKGROUND: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is a rare malignancy of the head and neck; however, it accounts for a majority of the tumors of the salivary glands. This study used a national population-based registry to describe the pre-treatment and treatment-related prognostic factors that influence survival in patients with MEC of the major salivary glands. To our knowledge, this is the largest population-based study examining predictors of both overall and cause-specific survival of MEC of the major salivary glands. AIM: To identify prognostic factors influencing overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) of patients with MEC of the major salivary glands. METHODS: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results Database of the National Cancer Institute to investigate a variety of factors that could influence survival of patients diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the major salivary glands. A total of 2210 patients diagnosed with MEC of the major salivary glands during the years of 1975-2016 were studied. The primary endpoints were OS and CSS. Cox regression analysis was used to perform univariate and multivariate analyses of clinical variables such as age at diagnosis, diagnosis year, sex, race, tumor size, stage, grade, treatment with or without surgical excision, and adjuvant radiotherapy treatment. RESULTS: A total of 2210 patients diagnosed with MEC of the major salivary glands met inclusion criteria. In this study, 95% of patients underwent surgical excision and 41% received adjuvant radiation therapy. Median OS time for Grade I, II, and III/IV was 401 mo (± 48.25, 95%CI), 340 mo (± 33.68, 95%CI) and 55 mo (± 11.05, 95%CI), respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that lack of surgical excision was associated with decreased OS [hazard ratio (HR) 4.26, P < 0.0001] and that patients with localized disease had improved OS compared to both regional and distant disease (HR 3.07 and 6.96, respectively, P < 0.0001). Additionally, univariate analysis demonstrated that male sex, age over 50 at diagnosis, Grade III tumors, and increasing tumor size were associated with worsened OS (P < 0.0006). Univariate analysis of CSS similarly revealed that lack of surgical excision and Grade III carcinoma conferred decreased CSS (HR 4.37 and 5.44, respectively, P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that increasing age, in 10-year age bands, advanced tumor stage, increasing tumor size, Grade III carcinoma, male sex, and lack of surgical excision were associated with a statistically significant decrease in OS and CSS (P < 0.04). Of note, multivariate analysis revealed that the use of adjuvant radiation therapy was not associated with improved OS or CSS. CONCLUSION: Multivariate analysis demonstrated increasing age, advanced tumor stage, increasing tumor size, Grade III carcinoma, male sex, and lack of surgical excision were associated with decreased OS and CSS (P < 0.04).

Pretreatment clinical prognostic factors for brain metastases from breast cancer treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases significantly affect morbidity and mortality rates for patients with metastatic breast cancer. Treatment for brain metastases lengthens survival, and options such as stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can increase survival to 12 months or longer. This study retrospectively analyzes the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) for patients with one or multiple brain metastases from breast cancer treated with SRS. METHODS: Between December 2001 and May 2015, 111 patients with brain metastases from breast cancer were grouped by potential prognostic factors including age at diagnosis, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score, number of brain metastases, and whether or not they received adjuvant treatments such as whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) or surgical resection. Survival rates were determined for all groups, and hazard ratios were calculated using univariate and multivariate analyses to compare differences in OS. RESULTS: Median OS was 16.8 ± 4.22 months. Univariate analysis of patients with a KPS ≤60 and multivariate analysis of KPS 70-80 showed significantly shorter survival than those with KPS 90-100 (5.9 ± 1.22 months, 21.3 ± 11.69 months, and 22.00 ± 12.56 months, P = 0.024 and < 0.001). Other results such as age ≥65 years and higher number of brain metastases trended toward shorter survival but were not statistically significant. No difference in survival was found for patients who had received WBRT in addition to SRS (P = 0.779). CONCLUSION: SRS has been shown to be safe and effective in treating brain metastases from breast cancer. We found our median survival to be 16.8 ± 4.22 months, an increase from other clinical reports. In addition, 38.4% of our population was alive at 2 years and 15.6% survived 5 years. Significant prognostic factors can help inform clinical treatment decisions. This study found that KPS was a significant prognostic indicator of OS in these patients.

Retrospective Study of Metastatic Melanoma and Renal Cell Carcinoma to the Brain with Multivariate Analysis of Prognostic Pre-Treatment Clinical Factors.

Patients with brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) or melanoma have historically had very poor prognoses of less than one year. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can be an effective treatment for patients with these tumors. This study analyzes the effect of pretreatment prognostic factors on overall survival (OS) for RCC and melanoma patients with metastasis to the brain treated with SRS. A total of 122 patients with brain metastases from either RCC or melanoma were grouped by age at brain metastasis diagnosis, whether they received whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) in addition to SRS, or they underwent surgical resection, Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS), number of brain metastases, and primary tumor. Median survival times for melanoma patients and RCC patients were 8.20 ± 3.06 and 12.70 ± 2.63 months, respectively. Patients with >5 metastases had a significantly shorter median survival time (6.60 ± 2.45 months) than the reference group (1 metastasis, 10.70 ± 13.40 months, p = 0.024). Patients with KPS ≤ 60 experienced significantly shorter survival than the reference group (KPS = 90-100), with median survival times of 5.80 ± 2.46 months (p < 0.001) and 45.20 ± 43.52 months, respectively. We found a median overall survival time of 12.7 and 8.2 months for RCC and melanoma, respectively. Our study determined that a higher number of brain metastases (>5) and lower KPS were statistically significant predictors of a lower OS prognosis.

Gamma knife treatment of brainstem metastases.

The management of brainstem metastases is challenging. Surgical treatment is usually not an option, and chemotherapy is of limited utility. Stereotactic radiosurgery has emerged as a promising palliative treatment modality in these cases. The goal of this study is to assess our single institution experience treating brainstem metastases with Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS). This retrospective chart review studied 41 patients with brainstem metastases treated with GKRS. The most common primary tumors were lung, breast, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Median age at initial treatment was 59 years. Nineteen (46%) of the patients received whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) prior to or concurrent with GKRS treatment. Thirty (73%) of the patients had a single brainstem metastasis. The average GKRS dose was 17 Gy. Post-GKRS overall survival at six months was 42%, at 12 months was 22%, and at 24 months was 13%. Local tumor control was achieved in 91% of patients, and there was one patient who had a fatal brain hemorrhage after treatment. Karnofsky performance score (KPS) >80 and the absence of prior WBRT were predictors for improved survival on multivariate analysis (HR 0.60 (p = 0.02), and HR 0.28 (p = 0.02), respectively). GKRS was an effective treatment for brainstem metastases, with excellent local tumor control.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas: tumor control and functional preservation in 70 patients.

OBJECTIVE: We present the previously unreported outcomes of 70 patients treated with Gamma knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma (VS), including comprehensive analysis of clinical outcomes and the effects of lower marginal doses. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of patients treated for VS at Gamma knife of Spokane between 2003 and 2008. Endpoints measured include tumor control, hearing preservation, and facial nerve preservation, including the effect of tumor size and marginal dose. Statistical analysis was performed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test, paired Student t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kendall's rank correlation, Fisher exact test, and Liddell's exact χ(2) test for matched pairs. RESULTS: With a mean follow-up of 26 months, 93.8% of tumors either shrank or remained static after receiving a mean marginal dose of 12.7 Gy. Tumor control was independent of marginal dose or tumor size. Hearing preservation was achieved in 64% of patients with serviceable function before the treatment. Hearing changes were independent of dose or tumor size. Preservation of good facial nerve function was achieved in 95% of patients. Post-treatment hydrocephalus occurred in 4.4% of patients, but no other significant morbidities were elucidated. CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of VS, contemporary radiosurgical techniques and the use of marginal doses below 13 Gy offer excellent tumor control, at high rates relative to surgical intervention. These findings are independent of marginal dose and tumor size. Patients should be informed about the benefits and risks of radiosurgery and microsurgery before choosing an intervention. Further analysis of post-treatment outcomes should be encouraged as follow-up times increase and the treatment protocols continue to evolve.