Head and neck chondrosarcomas: Analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.

BACKGROUND Chondrosarcoma is a rare tumor of the head and neck. Because of the limited clinical data, no studies have conducted a thorough comparison between head and neck chondrosarcomas and those arising at other body sites. METHODS Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we compared 682 patients with chondrosarcomas of the head and neck with 4757 patients with non-head and neck chondrosarcomas, evaluating disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) based on tumor location, histology, grade, stage, and treatment. RESULTS Head and neck chondrosarcomas displayed a lower grade (p < .001) and stage (p < .0001) compared with other chondrosarcomas. Overall, chondrosarcomas of the head and neck had significantly higher DSS and OS than non-head and neck chondrosarcomas (p < .001). CONCLUSION Chondrosarcomas of the head and neck display a lower grade and stage compared with other chondrosarcomas. DSS and OS were significantly greater for chondrosarcomas of the head and neck. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 1359-1366, 2016.