{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T16:37:54Z","timestamp":1792514274844,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750809600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Anemia in head and neck cancer (HNC) may be due to additive, overlapping or competing causes. Here we aim to investigate the prevalence of pre-therapeutic anemia, associated risk factors, subtypes, and impact on survival among HNC patients, including the clinically relevant subgroups of HPV-associated HNC.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective chart review of HNC patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2020 identified a study cohort of 921 patients. Every patient was subject to pre-therapeutic laboratory testing which was correlated with clinical data and oncologic outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Pre-therapeutic anemia was present in 18.1% of patients with advanced age, low BMI, systemic inflammation, and kidney dysfunction being significant risk factors for anemia. For oropharyngeal cancers, p16+ status was associated with lower anemia prevalence and offset the impact of smoking history on anemia risk when compared to all HNC patients. 19.2% of patients were hypochromic-microcytic and 4.2% were hyperchromic-macrocytic, indicative of iron or vitamin B12\/folate deficiency, respectively. Even mild anemia (11- 12.9 g\/d) was associated with a survival disadvantage compared to non-anemic patients (64% vs. 85% overall survival, &amp;lt;0.001).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Anemia is a significant negative survival predictor in HNC patients, with severity affecting prognosis. A relevant subgroup of patients had potentially reversible anemia subtypes, early identification and treatment of which may improve outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2025.1577901","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T01:26:24Z","timestamp":1750814784000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Pre-treatment anemia in head and neck cancer: risk factors, subtypes, and survival outcomes"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Cornelius H. 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