Comparing Kadish, TNM, and the Modified Dulguerov Staging Systems for Esthesioneuroblastoma
BACKGROUND: Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare neuroendocrine tumor. The purpose of this study was to compare Kadish to TNM and Dulgeurov's modified TNM staging systems and determine the impact of stage on primary surgical treatment selection, margin status, and survival. METHODS: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was used to identify patients diagnosed with ENB between 2004 to 2015. Patients were excluded based on the ability to properly stage their disease as well as the availability of treatment data. RESULTS: Eight-hundred eighty-three patients had sufficient data for analysis. On multivariate analysis, age and government insurance were associated with primary surgical treatment, whereas tumor stage, gender, race, hospital type and volume, and comorbidity score were not. Age, CDCC score, hospital volume, and nodal status were found to be predictors of survival. Multivariate analysis controlling for stage failed to demonstrate clear survival differences between staging in both TNM and Kadish systems. T-stage and the presence of regional nodal metastasis were associated with increased risk of positive margins on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Although primary surgical management and positive margins can be predicted by certain patient and tumor factors, clinical staging systems for ENB poorly predict prognosis over a 10-year horizon.