Table 1 Characteristics of patients with HNSCC and NPC treated by IMRT

	Value—x (%)	Value—x (%)	p-value
	HNSCC (n = 152)	NPC (n = 84)
Age (y)			0.01
Mean	55.4	49.1
Range	34–89	26–71
Gender (n)			<0.001
Male	139 (91.4%)	65 (77.4%)
Female	13 (8.6%)	19 (22.6%)
Tumor site
Larynx	16 (10.5%)	--
Hypopharynx	16 (10.5%)	--
Oropharynx	48 (31.6%)	--
Oral cavity	66 (43.4%)	--
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma	--	84 (100%)
Other	6 (4.0%)	--
T stage			<0.001
stage 1	16 (10.5%)	32 (38.0%)
stage 2	51 (33.7%)	33 (39.2%)
stage 3	12 (8.1%)	6 (7.6%)
stage 4	73 (47.7%)	13 15.2%)
Node classification			<0.001
N0	5 (3.5%)	17 (20.3%)
N1+	147 (96.5%)	67 (79.7%)
Total dose			0.01
40–60	14 (9.2%)	--
60–65	62 (40.8%)	--
65–70	61 (40.1%)	30 (35.7%)
70–75	14 (9.2%)	45 (53.6%)
75–80	1 (0.7%)	9 (10.7%)
QoL measurement (for XER3m)			0.001
With patient-reported xerostomia	50 (32.9%)	47 (56.0%)
No patient-reported xerostomia	83 (54.6%)	31 (36.9%)
With patient-reported xerostomia at baseline	19 (12.5%)	6 (7.1%)
QoL measurement (for XER12m)			0.359
With patient-reported xerostomia	27 (29.3%)	25 (37.9%)
No patient-reported xerostomia	55 (59.8%)	36 (54.5%)
With patient-reported xerostomia at baseline	10 (10.9%)	5 (7.6%)
Chemotherapy (for XER3m)			<0.001
Yes n (%)/n with xerostomia (%)	94 (70.7%)/35 (37.2%)	75 (96.2%)/45 (60.0%)
No n (%)/n with xerostomia (%)	39 (29.3%)/15 (38.5%)	3 (4.8%)/2 (66.7%)
Chemotherapy (for XER12m)			<0.001
Yes n (%)/n with xerostomia (%)	54 (65.9%)/16 (29.6%)	60 (98.4%)/25 (41.7%)
No n (%)/n with xerostomia (%)	28 (34.1%)/11 (39.3%)	1 (1.6%)/0 (0.0%)

Abbreviation: QoL: quality of life; IMRT: intensity-modulated radiotherapy; HNSCC: head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; NPC: nasopharyngeal carcinoma;
Patient-reported xerostomia was defined as moderate (66) to severe (100) xerostomia 3 and 12 months after the completion of RT and those patients with moderate to severe xerostomia at baseline were excluded from the analysis.
Differences between the HNSCC cohort and NPC cohort were described with an independent sample t-test for continuous variables and chi-square test for dichotomous variables. XER: Xerostomia; XER3m or 12m: patient-reported moderate- to-severe xerostomia after 3- or 12-month; Chemotherapy: patients received concurrent chemotherapy and excluded the patients with patient-reported moderate to severe xerostomia at baseline.

Search