|
| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2001 | Volume
: 47
| Issue : 3 | Page : 171-6 |
Oral cancer among patients under the age of 35 years.
EM Iype, M Pandey, A Mathew, G Thomas, P Sebastian, MK Nair
Department of Surgical Oncology, Epidemiology and Clinical studies, Community Oncology and Radiation Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011, India. , India
Correspondence Address:
E M Iype
Department of Surgical Oncology, Epidemiology and Clinical studies, Community Oncology and Radiation Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011, India.
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
PMID: 11832617 
BACKGROUND: Cancer of the oral cavity is one of the commonest cancers among males. AIMS: To assess the aetiological factors, patient characteristics, treatment and the outcome in young patients with oral cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive study of patients under the age of 35 years with cancer of the oral cavity treated between 1982-1996, with the last follow-up till 2001, using the tumour registry data of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Trivandrum, Kerala, India. SUBJECT AND METHOD: The detailed clinical, treatment and follow-up data were obtained from the computerised records of RCC and recorded on a preset proforma. This was analysed with emphasis on age, sex, risk factors, site, histology, clinical extent and treatment methods and survival in the study group. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The survival analysis was carried by Kaplan-Meier method and the difference in survival was analysed using log-rank test. RESULTS: Out of 264 patients analysed, tongue was the commonest site identified in 136 (52%) patients followed by buccal mucosa in 69 (26%) patients. A male female ratio of 2.3:1 was observed with a significantly higher male preponderance in buccal mucosa (4.3:1). Prior exposure to tobacco or alcohol was noted in 59.4% patients, with more habitués in buccal mucosa cancer. Histological confirmation was present only in 83.7% patients and among them most were squamous cell carcinoma (85.9%). Radiotherapy, surgery or combined modalities of treatment were employed for majority of patients. The 5-year survival was 57.3%. T stage of the tumour was found to be significant in predicting disease free survival (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The importance of early detection for clinical down staging is stressed. There is a need to investigate the aetiology of intra oral cancers in younger patients since a significant proportion (almost 40%) of these patients do not have associated risk factors for cancer.
[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
|
