The incidence of newly diagnosed secondary cancer; sub-analysis the prospective study of the second-look procedure for transoral surgery in patients with T1 and T2 head and neck cancer.

Background: Our prospective study of patients with early T-stage head and neck cancer indicated a high incidence of newly diagnosed secondary malignancies during the follow-up period. We aimed to determine the incidence rate and risk factors of secondary malignancies in early-stage head and neck cancer patients. Methods: We sub-analyzed the patient data of a previous study focusing on secondary cancer incidence. The endpoints were statistical analyses of risk factors and survival and incidence rates. Results: The incidence rate of secondary cancer was 37%, the crude incidence of second primary cancers was 10.6 per 100 person-years, and the 5 year secondary cancer-free survival rate was 63%. The hypopharynx as the primary site was an independent significant predictive factor (odds ratio 3.96, 95% confidence interval 1.07–14.6, p = 0.039). Conclusions: Early stages of laryngeal, oropharyngeal, and hypopharyngeal cancer had a risk of secondary cancer, especially hypopharyngeal cancer. Attention to the secondary cancer has to be paid during the follow-up period after controlling the early-stage disease. These findings highlight the need for awareness of the incidence of secondary cancer in cases of early-stage primary head and neck cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]