Female Versus Male Oral Cavity Cancer: is There a Difference?

Abstract

Objectives: Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a leading cause of death in Taiwan, and most of the patients are male. Little is known about the differences in risk factors, cancer characteristics and treatment outcomes in female patients. The study aim is to investigate the clinicopathological and outcome differences between gender in patients affected by oral cancer in Taiwan.Methods: This is a retrospective study based on data obtained between 1995 and 2019. A total of 2,046 patients were recruited for analysis. Cancer characteristics, risk factors and treatment outcomes in patients with oral cancer between genders were collected. Results: Female patients represented the 6.7% of the entire cohort of study. Females were diagnosed at an older age and at an earlier local stage compared to male patients (p < 0.001). The female patients were less exposed to cigarette, alcohol, and betel-nut (BQ) (all p-values < 0.001). Tongue (55.1%) was the most frequent subsite involved in the female group, while buccal (38.4%) and tongue (35.3%) were more likely (p < 0.001) to be associated with male gender. In tongue cancer subgroup, female patients presented less frequently extra-nodal extension compared with male patients (p = 0.040). During the follow-up period, there was no significant difference in recurrence and overall deaths between genders.Conclusion:In Taiwan, the male to female ratio in OSCC is 14:1. The tumor subsite distribution, environment exposure and stage distribution are different between females and male. There are no differences in term of survival between female and male OSCC patients.

Is gender a risk factor for oral diseases in India? A metadata exploration

“…Other risk factors include poor oral hygiene, and chronic irritation. The female patients were less exposed to factors like cigarettes, alcohol, and betel-nut chewing 45 .…”