title: Clinical and epidemiological features of oral cancer in a medical school teaching hospital from 1994 to 2002: increasing incidence in women, predominance of advanced local disease, and low incidence of neck metastases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Description of clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients who underwent surgery for oral cancer in a Medical School Teaching Hospital, and determination of differences with respect to other institutions and/or periods of time.
  
  
  METHODS
  The charts of patients undergoing surgery for oral cancer from 1994 to 2002 were reviewed. Data were collected in a spreadsheet in order to analyze clinical and epidemiological features..
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 374 patients having undergone 406 operations was identified. Their ages varied from 14 to 94 years (mean = 57.4 years), with 255 men (68.2%), and 295 out 366 Caucasian (80.6%). A majority had tumors of the tongue and/or floor of mouth (55.6%), while 20.3% had lip cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma was found in 90.3%, and glandular carcinoma in 4%. T4 tumors in 39.6%, Tis or T1 lesions in 15.2% of all patients. Nearly 62% had no regional metastases, and the relative incidence in young patients (40 years or younger) reached 8.6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In spite of the predominance of locally advanced tumors, a majority of patients had no neck metastases. The 31.8% incidence in females indicates an increasing incidence of oral cavity cancer among women when compared to previous periods at the same institution.
authors.affiliation: Head and Neck Service, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. mddurazzo@aol.com
authors.forename: Marcelo D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Durazzo
authors.forename: Carlos Eugenio Nabuco
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: de Araujo
authors.forename: José de Souza
authors.initials: Jde S
authors.lastname: Brandão Neto
authors.forename: André de Souza
authors.initials: Ade S
authors.lastname: Potenza
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Marcos R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Britto e Silva Filho
authors.forename: Alberto R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ferraz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000556:secondary; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies