The 5-year overall survival and its associated prognostic factors among patients with head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Aim: The incidence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) in Asians remains low but shows a steady rising trend. There is a lack of reporting of the long-term outcome in this population. This study aims to evaluate the 5-year overall survival and its associated prognostic factors among patients with head and neck cSCC. Patients and Methods: Patients with head and neck cSCC were identified in a regional hospital over 20 years. The 5-year overall survival was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier curve and its prognostic risk factors were analysed using Cox proportional hazard regression. Results: A total of 73 patients were identified. The median age was 84. The 5-year overall survival rate was 40.3%. A higher grade of differentiation (hazard ratio 3.732, 95% confidence interval 1.161-11.991, P = .027) was a significant prognostic factor on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusion: In this Asian cSCC survival series specific to the head and neck region, which mostly included octogenarians, the 5-year overall-survival was low and a poor grade of differentiation was associated with a worse survival. Further studies on the Asian population is warranted.