title: Proliferative activity and diagnostic delay in oral cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tumor stage may relate to the chronology of neoplasm growth and has been used as an outcome variable when studying diagnostic delay in oral cancer. However, tumor growth rate may act as a confounding factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed a total of 63 incident cases of oral cancer. The variables considered for the study included age, sex, smoking history, tumor site, TNM stage, Ki-67 score, and diagnostic delay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences between survivors and exitus were found in terms of tumor stage at diagnosis (I-II vs III-IV), sex, and Ki-67 scores. When the analysis was adjusted for tumor stage at diagnosis (I-II vs III-IV), proliferative activity resulted to be an independent prognostic factor for survival, whereas diagnostic delay did not influence survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results seem to suggest that survival from oral cancer is affected more by the biology of the cancer (rapid tumor growth) than by diagnostic delay.
authors.affiliation: Stomatology Department, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, C/Entrerríos s/n 15782, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seoane
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pita-Fernández
authors.forename: Iria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Inés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vazquez
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: López-Cedrún
authors.forename: Domingo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Agustin
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Varela-Centelles
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen