Impact of prior cancer history on survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer

Background The impact of prior cancer history on survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients remains unknown. The present study assessed the impact of prior cancer history on survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. Methods Patients with primary hypopharyngeal cancer diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to balance baseline characteristics. One-to-one PSM, Kaplan-Meier method, and log-rank test were performed for survival analysis. Results We included 5017 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. Prior cancer history had no significant impact on overall survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients in comparison with those without prior cancer history (p = 0.845, after PSM). Subgroup analysis showed that prior cancer history had no significant effect on overall survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients. Conclusion More hypopharyngeal cancer patients with prior cancer history should be considered for clinical trials. However, further prospective studies are needed.