Abstract C010: Racial and ethnic differences in stage of presentation, comorbidity burden, and overall survival of oral cavity cancer
Authors: Abouelella Dina K. , Belcastro Alexandra , Ramkumar Shreya P. , Chen Meng , Jiang Rong , White Melissa C. , Babatunde Oluwole A. , Boakye Eric Adjei , Watts Tammara L. , Cannon Trinitia Y. , Osazuwa-Peters Nosayaba 
Published: December 2023

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common head and neck cancer subsites. Head and neck cancer (HNC) has the third worst Black vs. White five-year survival rate of all cancers in the United States. Among the most important determinants of survival in OSCC and HNC in general are clinical factors such as stage of disease presentation and patients' comorbidity burden. It is unclear, however, how these prognostic clinical factors differ based on sex, or race and ethnicity. This study aimed to examine racial/ethnic and sex differences in stage of presentation, comorbidity burden, and overall survival in a cohort of adult patients with OSCC in the United States. Methods: We used the 2004 to 2018 data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) and created a cohort of adult patients with OSCC. Our outcomes of interests were stage of disease presentation, grouped as early-stage vs late-stage, comorbidity burden (scored as 0, 1, 2, 3+), and overall survival. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate the odds of late-stage presentation and higher comorbidity burden based on race/ethnicity and sex, while controlling for other clinical and non-clinical covariates. We also calculated the adjusted hazard ratios to estimate overall survival using Cox regression model. Results: Our final sample included 185,358 patients, with the majority of our sample comprised of males (68%), Non-Hispanic (NH) White patients (85%), 62% presenting with late-stage disease, and 78% with a comorbidity score of 0. In our final models, male patients were significantly more likely to present with late-stage disease compared to females (aOR =1.21; 95% CI:1.15,1.26). NH Black patients (aOR = 1.85;95%CI:1.68,2.04), Hispanic patients (aOR =1.56; 95% CI:1.39,1.74), and NH Other patients (aOR = 1.22; 95% CI:1.091.37) were more likely to present with late-stage disease compared to NH White patients. Regarding comorbidity burden, NH Black patients (aOR =1.60; 95%CI: 1.26,2.03) were more likely to have the highest comorbidity burden (comorbidity score 3+) compared to NH White patients. Finally, female patients had slightly higher survival odds than male patients (aHR = 0.97; 95% CI:0.96,1.00), while Hispanic patients (aHR = 1.17; 95% CI:1.10,1.24) and NH Other patients (aHR =1.32; 95% CI:1.25,1.40) had worse survival odds compared to NH White patients. Conclusion: There is significant racial/ethnic and gender disparities in stage of presentation and comorbidity burden in patients with OSCC, and racial/ethnic minorities seem to fair worse. It is important to improve outcomes for patients with OSCC and to recognize and mitigate racial and gender disparities.

Citation Format: Dina K. Abouelella, Alexandra Belcastro, Shreya P. Ramkumar, Meng Chen, Rong Jiang, Melissa C. White, Oluwole A. Babatunde, Eric Adjei Boakye, Tammara L. Watts, Trinitia Y. Cannon, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters. Racial and ethnic differences in stage of presentation, comorbidity burden, and overall survival of oral cavity cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr C010.