Prognostic impact of perineural invasion in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of PNI in HPSCC.

Methods: The medical records of 105 patients who underwent surgery-based treatment for HPSCC were reviewed. Clinicopathologic parameters including disease-specific survival were correlated with PNI.

Results: PNI was identified in 27 of the 105 (25.7%) cases of HPSCC. Correlation analysis demonstrated that PNI in HPSCC was significantly correlated with pN classification (10.3% in N0/N1 vs 34.8% in N2/N3, p = 0.006). Patients with PNI had decreased 5-year disease-specific survival with borderline significance (p = 0.065). In a sub-set of 31 patients who did not receive post-operative radiotherapy, PNI was determined to be a significant prognostic predictor (p = 0.033). In multivariate analysis, extracapsular invasion was the only independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Perineural invasion (PNI) should be considered an independent predictor for cervical lymph node involvement. PNI status in primary hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) specimens should be considered in decisions concerning adjuvant radiotherapy.

Keywords:

• Squamous cell carcinoma
• hypopharyngeal neoplasms
• nerve tissue neoplasms
• lymphatic metastasis
• adjuvant radiotherapy

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.