Study of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma with and without Oral Submucous Fibrosis.

Abstract

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a precancerous condition associated with areca nut chewing. Arecoline which isa component of areca nut is considered a carcinogen. The OSMF in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) indicatesareca nut-induced carcinogenesis. The molecular pathway for oral carcinogenesis caused by areca nut is discrete and considereda different clinicopathological entity. Thus the present study aims to study and compare the demographics, risk factors, and clinicalcharacteristics of OSCC patients with and without OSMF. It was a retrospective study done by medical record review. About 40OSCC cases were selected, of which 20 were with OSMF, and 20 were without OSMF. Demographic data, risk factors includinghistory of habits such as areca nut chewing, tobacco, etc., and clinical characteristics such as anatomical location, extent, tumorsize, and lymph node metastasis were noted, and data were analyzed. The mean age of OSCC cases with OSMF was younger thanthose without OSMF. The study groups did not observe a significant difference in habit type and duration. Most OSCC patientswith OSMF were younger than those OSCC without OSMF. The buccal mucosa was the most common anatomical locationinvolved with ulcers- proliferative growth in both study groups. The incidence of multiple sites and lymph node enlargementinvolvement is higher in OSCC without OSMF compared to those with OSMF. There was no significant difference concerninghistopathological changes between OSCC with and without the OSMF group.