Background: We ascertain the association of postoperative infection on survival in patients with locoregionally advanced oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC).
Methods: A retrospective study of patients with stage III/IVA OCSCC undergoing curative-intent surgery was performed. Postoperative infection was considered within 30 days after surgery. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to compare overall survival (OS) in patients with postoperative infection. Cox regression and propensity-score matching were used to adjust for confounders.
Results: Fifty-four of 114 patients had a postoperative infection. The 5-year OS in patients with a postoperative infection (24.1%) was lower than those without (65.2%; P < .0001). Postoperative infection was a negative predictor of OS after adjusting for patient, antibiotic, pathologic, and operative factors; the adjusted hazard ratio for OS was 2.54 (95% confidence interval, 1.27-5.09).
Conclusion: Postoperative infection is a strong negative predictor of OS in patients with OCSCC undergoing ablative surgery.
Keywords: disease-free survival; infection; oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma; overall survival; pathogen.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.