Investigation of Epidemiologic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Tongue Cancer in Two Tertiary Referral Centers in Isfahan City, Iran

Oral cancers are one type of the common cancers in Iran. Tongue cancer as a great threat to public health is accounted for 30% of oral cancers. Therefore, current study aimed to analyze demographic and pathological characteristics of tongue cancer in a population of 260 patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2014 in Isfahan city, Iran.
In this descriptive retrospective study, medical files of patients with tongue cancer who were referred to Alzahra and Kashani hospitals, as tertiary referral centers, from 2004 to 2014 were studied. Demographic characteristics (age, gender, and location), tumor features (location, type, and stage), and first manifestation at the time of diagnosis were extracted from medical files.
Findings: The mean age of patients with tongue cancer was 66.48 ± 14.29 years and they were most frequently aged between 60 to 80 years (65.8%). Tongue cancer predominantly occurred in men (74.2%). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most common type of tumor among patients with tongue cancer (71.9%).
Tongue cancer predominantly occurs in men compared to women. Most of the patients with tongue cancer are aged more than 60 years and its occurrence in ages less than 40 years is rare. Further studies assessing risk factors and also effect of cultural, religious, and socioeconomic factors on occurrence of tongue cancer are suggested.