Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity in patients younger than 40 years

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has been regarded as a disease affecting the elderly. Several etiologic factors have been demonstrated, such as tobacco and alcohol use and premalignant lesions, whereas others have been suspected, such as genetic or immunodeficiency disorders. Recently, some reports have addressed a tendency toward an increase in the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma in young patients. In recent years we have observed an increase in the number of squamous cell carcinomas in patients younger than 40 years. Therefore we retrospectively reviewed our clinical experience of cancer in those patients younger than 40 years. After screening 505 clinical charts, 294 patients met the criteria to enter our study. Twenty-four (8.2%) patients were aged 40 years or younger. Data collected included the history of premalignant lesions, etiologic factors, TNM stages, treatment modalities, and histopathologic issues. Statistical analysis with Kaplan-Meier survival rates and log-rank tests between various variables were applied. A significant association in survival was observed between patterns of recurrence (p = 0.031) and presence of neoplastic cells 5 mm or closer to the specimen margin. On the other hand, a lack of association was assessed in carcinogenic-related habits and in premalignant lesions. Likewise, although men showed a slightly worse prognosis than women, statistically no significant differences were found (p = 0.27).

Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and the oropharynx in patients less than 40 years of age: a 20-year analysis

“…There is a general agreement in the literature of a higher male preponderance of SCC of the OC and OP in young patients [4,15-18]. A male to female ratio of 3.8:1 observed among the young patient group in our study is a bit higher than a few other reports which gave the gender ratio to be 1.6:1 [15], 1.7:1 [4], 1.9:1 [16], and 2.3:1 [17].…”

Head and neck cancer in young people: a series of 52 SCCs of the oral tongue in patients aged 35 years or less

“…Finally many patients in this study were smokers and/or drinkers, without data on the duration of the consumption, which is a weakness of this design. However, previous reports on SCCOT in young people focused on those aged 40Á45 years or younger, with a median age close to 40 [3,4,7]. It is obvious that incidence increases quickly after the age of 35 and with the combination of alcohol and cigarette consumption [1].…”

“…Literature data on this population are contradictory. While older reports showed a worse evolution in young people [4,5], more recent reports that include adjustment of confounding variables show a similar prognosis to that in older groups [3,6]. This study was undertaken to assess our practice in the management of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in a young population.…”

“…Incidence in the younger patient group is increasing [1,2]. Female patients are also over-represented in this group [3]. Young people are probably less exposed to carcinogens that lead to a malignant transformation.…”

Head and Neck Malignancy in Young Females - Our Experience

“…Tobacco and alcohol are the major risk factor for head and cancer, but different studies have found a variable and sometimes absent relationship with these traditional risk factors in young patients and in female [5][6][7][8] . These traditional risk factors are also less important in cases of non-SCC of the head and neck.…”