title: Prognostic influence of gender in patients with oral tongue cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the independent role of gender in affecting prognosis in patients with anterior tongue cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients recorded in the head and neck cancer registry of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine between January 1981 and December 1998 were reviewed. Female patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue were identified and matched to men for year of diagnosis, age, TNM classification, histologic grading, and treatment modalities. For each woman, two men were matched.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-one women and 142 men satisfied our selection criteria. The frequency of recurrences was similar in the two study groups. This event occurred in 33 (46%) women and in 78 (55%) men (Fisher exact test, P = 0.25). The survival analysis confirmed that the rate of recurrences did not differ (log-rank test, P = 0.31). The number of cancer-related deaths in women and men was 23 (32%) and 55 (39%), respectively (Fisher exact test, P = 0.45). The survival analysis confirmed that gender did not affect survival (log-rank test, P = 0.34).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, gender does not influence prognosis in patients with oral tongue cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, DNTB, Monza, Italy. werner.garavello@unimib.it
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Garavello
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spreafico
authors.forename: Edgardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Somigliana
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaini
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pignataro
authors.forename: Renato Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gaini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005927:Glossectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome