Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Frequency in Young Patients from Referral Centers Around the World

• Published in: Head & neck pathology (Totowa, N.J.) N.J.), 2022-09, Vol.16 (3), p.755-762
• Main Authors: Ferreira e Costa, Rafael, Leão, Marina Luiza Baião, Sant’Ana, Maria Sissa Pereira, Mesquita, Ricardo Alves, Gomez, Ricardo Santiago, Santos-Silva, Alan Roger, Khurram, Syed Ali, Tailor, Artysha, Schouwstra, Ciska-Mari, Robinson, Liam, van Heerden, Willie F. P., Tomasi, Ramiro Alejandro, Gorrino, Romina, de Prato, Ruth Salomé Ferreyra, Taylor, Adalberto Mosqueda, Urizar, José Manuel Aguirre, de Mendoza, Irene Lafuente Ibañez, Radhakrishnan, Raghu, Chandrashekar, Chetana, Choi, Siu-Wai, Thomson, Peter, Pontes, Hélder Antônio Rebelo, Fonseca, Felipe Paiva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Dentistry; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mouth Neoplasms; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Original Paper; Otorhinolaryngology; Pathology; Referral and Consultation; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
• ISSN: 1936-0568; 1936-055X; 1936-0568
• DOI: 10.1007/s12105-022-01441-w

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) commonly affects older patients; however, several studies have documented an increase in its incidence among younger patients. Therefore, it is important to investigate if this trend is also found in different geographic regions. The pathology files of diagnostic and therapeutic institutions from different parts of the globe were searched for OSCC cases diagnosed from 1998 to 2018. Data regarding the sex, age, and tumor location of all cases, as well as the histologic grade and history of exposure to risk habits of cases diagnosed as OSCC in young patients (≤ 40 years of age) were obtained. The Chi-square test was used to determine any increasing trend. A total of 10,727 OSCC cases were identified, of which 626 cases affected young patients (5.8%). Manipal institution (India) showed the highest number of young patients (13.2%). Males were the most affected in both age groups, with the tongue and floor of the mouth being the most affected subsites. OSCC in young individuals were usually graded as well or moderately differentiated. Only 0.9% of the cases occurred in young patients without a reported risk habit. There was no increasing trend in the institutions and the period investigated ( p  > 0.05), but a decreasing trend was observed in Hong Kong and the sample as a whole (p