Association between NF-κB Activation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Late Skin and Subcutaneous Fibrosis following Radiotherapy

Table 2

Patients and disease characteristics stratified by grade of late fibrosis.

Variables	Grade <2		Grade ≥2		value
	No. ()	%	No. ()	%
Age at diagnosis					0.383
<64	100	74.07	52	80.00
≥65	35	25.93	13	20.00
Gender					0.584
Male	105	77.78	53	81.54
Female	30	22.22	12	18.46
Smoking history					0.020
Yes	92	68.15	33	50.77
No	43	31.85	32	49.23
Alcohol consumption					0.041
Yes	106	78.52	42	64.62
No	29	21.48	23	35.38
Primary site					0.119
Oral cavity	23	17.04	8	12.31
Oropharynx	15	11.11	3	4.62
Hypopharynx	15	11.11	13	20.00
Larynx	42	31.11	28	43.08
Nasopharynx	38	28.15	13	20.00
Unknown	2	1.48	0	0.00
Tumor stage at diagnosis^a					0.026
I	33	24.44	8	12.31
II	25	18.52	19	29.23
III	59	43.7	22	33.85
IVa-IVb	15	11.11	15	23.08
Unknown	3	2.22	1	1.54
Radiation technique					0.976
3D-CRT	41	30.37	20	30.77
IMRT	77	57.04	36	55.38
Unknown	17	12.59	9	13.85
Chemotherapy					0.999
Yes	32	23.7	16	24.62
No	103	76.3	49	75.38
Surgery					0.764
Yes	70	51.85	32	49.23
No	65	48.15	33	50.77

^aAccording to the American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM staging system for head and neck cancers (7th ed., 2010) staging criteria.