Objective: The goal was to identify factors associated with the outcome of salvage therapy for patients with isolated cervical recurrences of squamous cell carcinoma in the previously treated neck (ICR-PTN).
Study design and settings: A tumor registry search for ICR-PTN patients was performed at 7 participating institutions, and the charts were reviewed. Kaplan-Meier plots for survival and time until re-recurrence were used to evaluate the significance of associated variables.
Results: Median survival and time until re-recurrence were both 11 months. Survival was better in patients with the following characteristics: nonsurgical initial neck treatment, negative initial disease resection margins, no history of prior recurrence, ipsilateral location of the ICR-PTN relative to the primary, and use of surgical salvage.
Conclusions: By pooling the experience of 7 US tertiary care medical centers, we have identified 5 factors that are associated with outcome of salvage therapy for ICR-PTN.
Significance: Consideration of these factors, as well as the reviewed literature, should facilitate patient selection for salvage protocols.