A prospective longitudinal study of quality of life in robotic-assisted salvage surgery for oropharyngeal cancer.

Objective: We investigated the quality of life (QoL), functional, and oncological outcomes after robotic-assisted transoral or combined cervical-transoral salvage surgery for oropharyngeal carcinoma following radiotherapy.
Material and Methods: We performed a single tertiary referral center, prospective, observational cohort study of all consecutive patients who underwent salvage robotic-assisted surgery for oropharyngeal carcinoma between 2015 and 2021. The primary outcomes were quality of life assessments using the MDADI, EORTC-QLQC30, and EORTC-QLQH&N35. Secondary endpoints were the functional and oncological outcomes based on overall survival, disease-free survival, and local control.
Results: A consecutive cohort of 53 patients were included. The median Charlson comorbidity index was 5. The p16 status was negative in 87%, and 22.6% were T3-4. A flap reconstruction was performed in 90.6%, with a free flap in 67.9%. Margins were negative in 81.1%. The preoperative, 1-year, and 2-year MDADI total scores were 71.4, 64.3, and 57.5, respectively. The preoperative, 1-year, and 2-year QLQ-C30 global scores were 61.2, 59.4, and 80.6, respectively. Decannulation was possible in 97.1% of the tracheotomized patients. The two-year enteral tube dependence was 23.1%. The two-year overall survival, disease-free survival, and local control rates were 59%, 46.1%, and 80.9%, respectively.
Conclusion: Robotic-assisted salvage surgery for oropharyngeal carcinoma following radiotherapy demonstrated a very satisfactory quality of life, good functional sequelae, and good oncological outcomes compared to historical approaches.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest VP and PG declare that they are Proctors for Intuitive Surgical. Other authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.
(Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)