Comparison of two prognostic scores for patients with parotid carcinoma

Background. Salivary glands present a wide di- versity in histopathologic types and biologic behaviors, thus complicating the search for prognostic factors. Methods. We compared 2 prognostic scores that were pre- viously published for patients with parotid carcinoma in a retro- spective series of 175 patients treated in a single institution. Results. Cox multivariate analysis indicated clinical skin invasion, facial nerve function, and perineural growth as the most significant recurrent disease-related prognostic factors. According to the Vander Poorten score, 148 patients were di- vided into 4 groups, with the 5-year disease-free survival of 76%, 81%, 69%, and 35%, respectively. In the Carrillo's score, the patients were divided into 3 groups: low-risk, intermediate- risk, and high-risk, with the 5-year disease-free survival of 84%, 73%, and 34%, respectively. Conclusion. Carrillo's score showed more distinct survival curves, and determination of groups with a more favorable prognosis was difficult for both scores. Therefore, both scores were not totally reproducible for our group of patients. V C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 31: 1188-1195, 2009