Low Survival Rates of Oral and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Main Authors: Anna Carolina Omena Vasconcellos Le Campion, Camila Maria Beder Ribeiro, Ronir Raggio Luiz, Francisco Feliciano da Silva Júnior, Herbert Charles Silva Barros, Karine de Cássia Batista dos Santos, Stefania Jeronimo Ferreira, Lucio Souza Gonçalves, Sonia Maria Soares Ferreira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2017-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Dentistry
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/5815493

Aim. To assess the epidemiological and clinical factors that influence the prognosis of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Methods. One hundred and twenty-one cases of oral and oropharyngeal SCC were selected. The survival curves for each variable were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox regression model was applied to assess the effect of the variables on survival. Results. Cancers at an advanced stage were observed in 103 patients (85.1%). Cancers on the tongue were more frequent (23.1%). The survival analysis was 59.9% in one year, 40.7% in two years, and 27.8% in 5 years. There was a significant low survival rate linked to alcohol intake (p=0.038), advanced cancer staging (p=0.003), and procedures without surgery (p<0.001). When these variables were included in the Cox regression model only surgery procedures (p=0.005) demonstrated a significant effect on survival. Conclusion. The findings suggest that patients who underwent surgery had a greater survival rate compared with those that did not. The low survival rates and the high percentage of patients diagnosed at advanced stages demonstrate that oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients should receive more attention.