Betel nut chewing history is an independent prognosticator for smoking patients with locally advanced stage IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma receiving induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil

Table 3 Associations between the response of induction chemotherapy and clinicopathologic parameters in 162 smoking patients with locally advanced stage IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma receiving induction chemotherapy with TPF

Parameters		Response to induction chemotherapy
		CR/PR	SD/PD	P value
Age	<53 years old	47	34	0.42
	≧53 years old	52	29
Sex	Male	96	60	0.68
	Female	3	3
Clinical 7th AJCC stage	IVA	47	33	0.54
	IVB	52	30
Clinical T classification	T1~T4a	55	37	0.69
	T4b	44	26
Clinical N classification	N0/1	35	13	0.045*
	N2/3	64	50
Primary tumor site	Oral cavity	35	27	0.34
	Others	64	36
Primary tumor site	Oropharynx	40	20	0.27
	Others	59	43
Primary tumor site	Larynx/hypopharynx	23	13	0.70
	Others	76	50
Alcohol	Absent	10	6	0.90
	Present	89	57
Betel nut chewing	Absent	24	7	0.038*
	Present	75	56

TPF docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil; CR complete response; PR partial response; SD stable disease; PD progression disease
*Statistically significant. х ² test, Fisher’s exact test, or t test was used for statistically analyzed

ISSN: 1477-7819