Current-Smoking-Related COPD or COPD With Acute Exacerbation is Associated With Poorer Survival Following Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Surgery.

The survival effect of smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and COPD with acute exacerbation (COPDAE) before surgery on patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) is unclear. Using the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database, we enrolled patients with OCSCC (pathologic stages I-IVB) receiving surgery. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze all-cause mortality. We categorized the patients into two groups by using propensity score matching based on the pre-existing COPD status (≤1 year before surgery) to compare overall survival outcomes: Group 1 (never smokers without COPD) and Group 2 (current smokers with COPD). In multivariate Cox regression analyses, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR; 95% confidence interval [CI]) of all-cause mortality in Group 2 compared with Group 1 was 1.07 (1.02-1.16, P = 0.041). The aHRs (95% CIs) of all-cause mortality for ≥1 hospitalizations for COPDAE within 1 year before surgery for patients with OCSCC was 1.31 (1.02-1.64; P = 0.011) compared with no COPDAE in patients with OCSCC receiving surgery. Among patients with OCSCC undergoing curative surgery, current smokers with smoking-related COPD demonstrated poorer survival outcomes than did nonsmokers without COPD, for both OCSCC death and all-cause mortality. Hospitalization for COPDAE within 1 year before surgery was found to be an independent risk factor for overall survival in these patients with OCSCC. Prevention of COPD progression to COPDAE may lead to an increase in overall survival in patients with OCSCC receiving curative surgery.