Clinical characteristics of paraneoplastic syndromes in patients with head and neck cancer

BACKGROUND: To summarize the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and prognosis of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients with paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS). METHODS: The clinical data of 1958 patients with HNC admitted to our hospital from January 1996 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and cancer‐related characteristics were extracted. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were compared by log‐rank test. Cox regression was performed to evaluate prognostic factors and hazard ratio. RESULTS: Totally 40 HNC patients with PNS were included in the final analysis, including 36 men and four women with a mean age of 60.4 years (range 40–82). PNS was dermatologic or cutaneous in 23 (57.50%) patients, endocrine in 10 (25.00%), neurologic in five (12.50%), and osteoarticular or rheumatologic in two (5.00%). Twenty‐five (62.50%) patients had Stage III/IV cancer. PNS regressed after antitumor therapy in 28 (70.00%) patients. Recurrence of PNS was observed in nine of 12 (75.00%) patients with cancer recurrence or metastasis. The 5‐year overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) rates of patients with PNS were 51.52% and 44.44%, respectively. The DFS (p = .001) and OS (p = .003) of patients presented with PNS prior to HNC diagnosis were significantly longer than those of patients with synchronous or metachronous PNS. PNS diagnosed before HNC (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11–0.85, p = .02), Stage IV disease (aHR: 3.27, 95% CI: 1.18–9.05, p = .02), and smoking history (aHR: 3.69, 95% CI: 1.04–13.05, p = .04) were significantly associated with OS and DFS. CONCLUSIONS: Early recognition of PNS could provide clues about underlying tumor condition and result in early diagnosis. Prompt detection of cancer‐associated syndromes could lead to a more favorable prognosis for these patients.