Characteristics and in-hospital morbidity trends associated with oral cavity cancer in Brazil

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze epidemiological aspects, including temporal trends, of in-hospital morbidity from oral cavity cancer in Brazil.Methods: Observational study based on information from the entire Brazilian territory, where data on hospital admissions for oral cancer were analyzed, obtained from the Information System of the Brazilian Cancer Registry. For the temporal series analysis, generalized linear regression model was used with the Prais-Winsten method.Results: Of the 121,971 patients hospitalized with oral cavity cancer, 76.40% were male and 23.60% were female, resulting in a M:F ratio of 3.24:1. Regarding the anatomical region of involvement among hospitalized patients with oral cavity neoplastic lesions, there was a predominance in non- specific places in the mouth, such as the floor of the mouth, soft and hard palate, among others (32.68%), followed by lesions in the region of tongue (28.89%). In this population, the predominant age group was between the fifth (31.09%) and sixth decades of life (24.99%); men had oral cavity neoplastic lesions at an earlier age than women. In all regions of the country, the staging of cases diagnosed in the tertiary health network accredited to the José Alencar Gomes da Silva National Cancer Institute (INCA) was late, with an increased tendency for metastasis. The temporal trend of the adjusted in-hospital morbidity rates showed to be increasing in the Northeast, South and Midwest regions for the male gender. For females, they were increasing in the Northeast and South regions.Conclusions: It is concluded that the distribution of in-hospital morbidity rates for oral cavity cancer in the country is irregular, with a predominance of male patients and higher in the Southeast and South regions, and there is a trend for this rate to increase in both genders.