Prognostic influence of gender in patients with oral tongue cancer.
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.
Garavello
Werner
W
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, DNTB, Monza, Italy. werner.garavello@unimib.it
Spreafico
Roberto
R
Somigliana
Edgardo
E
Gaini
Lorenzo
L
Pignataro
Lorenzo
L
Gaini
Renato Maria
RM
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