Marital status and its correlation with age, race, and gender in prognosis of tonsil squamous cell carcinomas

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of marital status on tonsil squamous cell carcinomas (TSCCs) prognosis and to analyze whether the impact is correlated with gender, age, and race. We examined the clinicopathological variables using Chi-squared tests and evaluated the association between survival and different variables using the methods of Kaplan–Meier. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the effects of each variable on survival. A total of 10,720 patients were analyzed. The rate of being married was higher among Asian or Caucasian, and this rate decreased with higher tumor stage. While both married male and female survivors benefit from their marital status, we found a differential in cancer-specific survival based on gender, with males benefitting more than females (p < 0.05). The same results were found in overall survival. Subgroup analysis shows that the protective effect of marriage was consistent in all patients except for N3 groups (all, p < 0.05). While there are survival benefits for married patients with TSCCs, married/partnered males may benefit more than females. Age, race, and gender could affect the correlation between marital status and survival.

Keywords

• tonsil squamous cell carcinomas
• marital status
• gender
• prognosis