Survival rate in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral cancer as the most common cancer of head and neck region holds the eighth rank among all cancers in order of prevalence. More than 90% of oral cancers are of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The main objective of this study is the determination of the survival rate in patients with oral SCC and the factors influencing thereon.
In this study, 174 recorded cases of patients with oral SCC were evaluated. Required data on survival of patients were gathered by phone calls. Using software SPSS 20, the statistical analysis of data was carried out. The survival rate of the patients and the corresponding influential factors were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression tests, respectively.
57.6% of the patients were male. The age of the patients ranged between 22-89 years with the average onset age of 61.5 years. The most common site of oral SCC was tongue. The overall five-year survival rate of the patients was 49.4%±0.05. The survival rate had a statistically significant relation with age of the patients and their treatment methods, including surgery or chemotherapy.
The prevalence of oral SCC is higher in men and overall survival rate decreases with increasing age of the patients. Due to the low survival rate of oral cancer patients, more attentions should be paid to this condition.