Retrospective analysis of a 6-year cohort of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Purpose: The present study analyzed 53 consecutive patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) over a period of 6 years (from 2006 to 2012) to determine if epidemiological differences correspond to different stages of the disease and affected the survival rate. Methods: In this cohort study, medical records were reviewed retrospectively. The epidemiological data included age, gender, residence, tobacco habit, duration of tobacco use, blood group, and hemoglobin. The clinicopathological features noted were tumor site, tumor size, nodal status, histopathological grade, metastasis, clinical grade, and treatment. We analyzed the relationship of epidemiological characteristics with treatment by the Chi-square test and survival analysis using the Kaplan–Meier curve. The statistical test significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: Of the 53 patients of OSCC confirmed through histopathological diagnosis, the ratio of female to male was 1.65:1 and mean age was 51.83 ± 12.57 years. Majority of the cases, i.e., 43 (81.13%) were from rural area. 51 (96.22%) patients were tobacco habituates, of which 41 (80.40%) were smokeless tobacco chewers. Buccal mucosa was the most common tumor site, i.e., 23 (43.40%). The clinical presentation of ulcer/ ulceroproliferative cases, i.e., 43 (81.13%) was most frequent. Moreover, statistical significance was observed with univariate association analysis between clinical presentation and treatment; in patients who underwent surgical treatment (P = 0.04). Of 35 (66.04%) patients who underwent surgical treatment, only 7 (20%) patients had recurrence. Survival rate was 90.57% at 3-year follow-up. Conclusion: The clinical presentation and treatment outcome of OSCC patients with the habit of smokeless tobacco is presented. The improved survival rate in our patients could be due to surgery being the main treatment modality and buccal mucosa being the most frequent site.