Treatment delay among oral cancer patients in Tehran, Iran

Despite recent advances in treatment of oral cancer, it still causes high rates of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Delays in diagnosis and treatment of these cancers greatly affect the prognosis. This study aimed to assess the treatment delay and its relation to diagnostic delay among oral cancer patients in Tehran, Iran. We studied 100 patients with primary oral squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to three teaching hospitals between 2004 and 2006. Treatment delay was defined as the time from diagnosis to the beginning of treatment. Diagnostic delay is considered as the time elapsed between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis. Of all the patients 53% were male with the mean age of 61.5 (SD 15.8 years; range 24-100 years) at diagnosis. The majority of tumors (61%) were at advanced stages when diagnosed (stages III or IV). The mean diagnostic delay was 7.2 months (SD 7.5) and the mean treatment delay was 33.16 days (SD 14.1). Patients who were diagnosed at earlier stages had longer treatment delays (p<0.05), and those who had longer diagnostic delay had shorter treatment delay (p<0.05). Our findings indicated a need for oral cancer prevention campaigns, focused on reducing the delays between the appearance of signs and symptoms, and final diagnosis and treatment to ensure better prognosis and higher quality of life for patients.