THE ROLE OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL PATHOLOGY LABORATORIES IN THE ORAL CANCER DIAGNOSIS: A BRAZILIAN MULTICENTER STUDY

Abstract

Objective To show the essential role of public oral and maxillofacial pathology laboratories (OMPLs) in the diagnosis of lip, oral cavity, and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in Brazil. Study Design This retrospective observational study was approved by the local research Ethics Committee. Cases diagnosed as lip, oral cavity, and oropharyngeal SCC between 2010 and 2019 were retrieved from the archives of fifteen OMPLs of all five Brazilian geographic regions. Patients´ clinical data were collected from their pathology forms. Results A total of 7,561 cases were received at each center with a mean of 756 ± 58.6 cases per year (2010-2019); among these, 11.9% (n=900) were lip SCC, 71% (n=5,369) were oral cavity SCC, and 17.1% (n=1,292) were oropharyngeal SCC. Most cases were incisional biopsies (89.6%; n=6,263). The average age of patients upon diagnosis was higher for lip cases (63.6 ± 13.7 years) compared to other sites. The schooling level was low for most patients, especially in lip SCC (61%). Conclusions The Brazilian OMPLs analyzed herein played an important role in the diagnosis of a large number of oral cancer cases in the last decade. To show the essential role of public oral and maxillofacial pathology laboratories (OMPLs) in the diagnosis of lip, oral cavity, and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in Brazil. This retrospective observational study was approved by the local research Ethics Committee. Cases diagnosed as lip, oral cavity, and oropharyngeal SCC between 2010 and 2019 were retrieved from the archives of fifteen OMPLs of all five Brazilian geographic regions. Patients´ clinical data were collected from their pathology forms. A total of 7,561 cases were received at each center with a mean of 756 ± 58.6 cases per year (2010-2019); among these, 11.9% (n=900) were lip SCC, 71% (n=5,369) were oral cavity SCC, and 17.1% (n=1,292) were oropharyngeal SCC. Most cases were incisional biopsies (89.6%; n=6,263). The average age of patients upon diagnosis was higher for lip cases (63.6 ± 13.7 years) compared to other sites. The schooling level was low for most patients, especially in lip SCC (61%). The Brazilian OMPLs analyzed herein played an important role in the diagnosis of a large number of oral cancer cases in the last decade.