Clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, and treatment modalities for head and neck lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma: A real-world study from southern China.

Background: We aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics, prognostic factors and optimal treatment modalities of head and neck lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (HNLELC).

Methods: Consecutive patients newly-diagnosed with non-metastatic HNLELC between December 2001 and March 2021 treated with curative intent were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: A total of 288 patients were included, of whom 87 (30.2%) underwent radical surgery alone, 43 (14.9%) underwent definitive radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy, and 158 (54.9%) underwent surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy (SRT). Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA (EBER) was positive in 94.8% (239/252) of patients. Cervical node infiltration was seen in 52.8% (152/288) of patients. No significant difference was found in nodal metastasis rate between T1-2 and T3-4 classifications (49.5% vs. 56.5%, p = 0.308). The 3-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival, locoregional relapse-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 89.4%, 78.7%, 89.2%, and 87.7%, respectively. Compared to SRT, surgery alone associated with significant reduced 3-year local (92.8% vs. 96.5%, p = 0.012) and regional relapse-free survival rates (89.3% vs. 96.8%, p = 0.002). Definitive radiotherapy and SRT demonstrated comparable results in all 3-year survival outcomes (all p＞0.05). Multivariate analysis found EBER status was an independent favorable prognostic factor for OS (HR = 0.356, 95% CI: 0.144-0.882, p = 0.026).

Conclusion: HNLELC was observed to associate with EBV infection and cervical nodal infiltration. Definitive radiotherapy achieved similar survival outcomes compared to SRT, and may serve as a good substitute for patients unfit or unwilling to undergo surgery.