Skip to content
PaperFren

Oncology outcomes

Does mixed DNA inside a head-and-neck tumor predict death?

Mroz EA, Tward AD, Hammon RJ, et al. · PLoS medicine · 2015

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

In 305 TCGA HNSCC patients, high intra-tumor MATH heterogeneity more than doubled the hazard of death (HR 2.2; 95% CI 1.4–3.3), even after HPV, TP53, grade, and N classification.

Save to libraryView originalAsk PaperFrenStudy view

Study at a glance

Design
Cohort — Retrospective TCGA analysis of bulk-tumor WES MATH vs overall survival in HNSCC (diagnoses 1992–2011).
N
N=305 · 305 HNSCC patients from 14 institutions; 131 deaths (median time to death 14 months); living median follow-up 22 months.
Population
TCGA head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cases with clinical and whole-exome data (October 2013 freeze).
Outcome
Overall survival associated with high vs low mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity (MATH).

Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.

Key findings

High MATH HR was 2.2 (univariate ~2.18). The association was not explained by age, HPV, grade, TP53, or N class, improved prognostication, and still split oral-cavity and laryngeal outcomes after staging. Chemoradiotherapy patients showed a particularly large HR (5.2).

Methodology

Calculated MATH from bulk-tumor whole-exome sequencing for 305 HNSCC cases from 14 institutions and related high vs low MATH to overall survival with Cox models, including multivariate adjustment for standard clinical/molecular factors.

Limitations

Retrospective multi-site TCGA data were not collected to study MATH; prospective, homogeneously treated series (especially HPV+ oropharynx) are still required before clinical use.

How this study connects

Role on claims

Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.

Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.

Related papers in this topic

Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.