Characteristics and prognosis of primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma in Norway, a descriptive retrospective study.

Inger-Heidi Bjerkli,Lars Uhlin-Hansen,Oddveig G Rikardsen,Gunnhild Karevold,Ellen Jaatun,Ása Karlsdóttir,Elin Hadler-Olsen,Olav Jetlund,Sonja E Steigen,Scott M Langevin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227738

Abstract

ObjectivesIncidence of oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas is rising worldwide, and population characterization is important to follow for future trends. The aim of this retrospective study was to present a large cohort of primary oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma from all four health regions of Norway, with descriptive clinicopathological characteristics and five-year survival outcomes.Materials and methodsPatients diagnosed with primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas at all four university hospitals in Norway between 2005–2009 were retrospectively included in this study. Clinicopathological data from the electronic health records were compared to survival data.ResultsA total of 535 patients with primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas were identified. The median survival follow-up time was 48 months (range 0–125 months) after treatment. The median five-year overall survival was found to be 47%. Median five-year disease-specific survival was 52%, ranging from 80% for stage I to 33% for stage IV patients. For patients given treatment with curative intent, the overall survival was found to be 56% and disease-specific survival 62%. Median age at diagnosis was 67 years (range 24–101 years), 64 years for men and 72 years for women. The male: female ratio was 1.2. No gender difference was found in neither tumor status (p = 0.180) nor node status (p = 0.266), but both factors influenced significantly on survival (p<0.001 for both).ConclusionsWe present a large cohort of primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas in Norway. Five-year disease-specific survival was 52%, and patients eligible for curative treatment had a five-year disease-specific survival up to 62%.

Highlights

Oral cavity cancer (OCC) is the most common subtype of head and neck (HN) cancer [1], and includes cancers in the mobile tongue, floor of mouth, buccal and labial mucosa, upper and lower gingiva and alveolar mucosa, retromolar trigone, and hard palate [2,3,4]
We present a large cohort of primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas in Norway
Five-year disease-specific survival was 52%, and patients eligible for curative treatment had a five-year disease-specific survival up to 62%

Summary

Introduction

Oral cavity cancer (OCC) is the most common subtype of head and neck (HN) cancer [1], and includes cancers in the mobile tongue (anterior 2/3 of the tongue), floor of mouth, buccal and labial mucosa, upper and lower gingiva and alveolar mucosa, retromolar trigone, and hard palate [2,3,4]. The mobile tongue is the most common site for OCC, accounting for up to 50% of the cases [5,6,7]. In 2012 the global incidence of OCC was estimated to 275 000 [1], and is steadily rising worldwide. According to global cancer statistics in 2018, the estimated incidence of OCC together with lip location was found to be around 355 000 [8]. For cancer of the tongue, there is a trend of increasing incidence in the Nordic countries as well as in the United States [5, 12,13,14]. The incidence of oropharyngeal cancers was estimated globally to be around 93 000 cases in 2018 [8]

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