Prognostic value of tumor volumetry data of routine imaging data in a head and neck cancer registry

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of tumor volume (TV) measurements as prognosticator for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) from data of head and neck cancer (HNC) registries. TV measurements were performed in pre-treatment computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 392 unselected HNC patients. TV measurements were feasible in 275 patients (70 %). Median CT TV and MRI TV were 11.43 and 10.4 cm³, respectively. The CT TV was significantly different only between T1 and T4. CT TV was significantly different only between T1 and T4 (p = 0.041). MRI TV was significantly different between T1 and T4 (p = 0.003) as well as between T2 and T4 (p = 0.002). Median follow-up was 26.1 months. Median RFS was 80.7 months. Median OS was 66.5 months. On univariate analysis, significant prognostic factors for decreased RFS were advanced T stage (p = 0.010); M1 (p = 0.001) and an MRI TV > 10.4 cm³ (p = 0.001). Significant prognostic factors for a decreased OS were advanced T stage (p = 0.001), N+ (p = 0 006), M+ (p < 0.001), tumor recurrence (p < 0.001), CT TV (p = 0.005), and MRI TV (p = 0.012). On multivariate analysis for RFS, MRI TV was the best independent prognosticator (p = 0.003). On multivariate analysis for OS, T stage (p = 0.006) was a better prognosticator than CT or MRI TV. Using CT and MRI data sets of an unselected series of HNC patients in a cancer registry, TV measurements were not feasible in all patients. MRT TV was a powerful prognosticator for RFS.