Oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer in a younger population. Review of literature and experience at Yale.
Oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer in younger adults is a rare entity with an incidence of 2.7% among 1014 patients seen or treated at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale - New Haven Medical Center between 1958 and 1980. Although there are reports of contrastingly divergent therapeutic experiences, the authors contend that even early stage cancers frequently fail definitive therapy with a rampant course, causing a rapidly fatal outcome. The three-year actuarial survival was a mere 17% at Yale. The authors speculate that younger adult oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers are possibly related to a genetic disorder or immunodeficiency, and recommend aggressive surgical and radiotherapeutic approaches combined with possible adjuvant immunotherapy.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy