title: Changing trends in smoking and alcohol consumption in patients with oral cancer treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1985 to 2009.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe smoking and alcohol consumption trends in patients with oral cavity cancer over the past 25 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-institution tertiary care cancer center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with oral cancer treated primarily with surgery from 1985 to 2009. Patients with previous head and neck cancer were excluded.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 1617 patients were reviewed. Patient demographics and details on smoking and alcohol consumption were recorded. Patients were divided in 5 different cohorts according to the year of initial surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in sex, age, or stage of disease among cohorts. Oral tongue was the most common subsite (49%). There was a progressive decrease in tobacco use; 80% in cohort 1 vs 60% in cohort 5 (P < .001). A decrease in the daily amount of tobacco used was also found; 55% of patients in cohort 1 smoked more than 1 pack per day compared with 30% in cohort 5 (P < .001). Alcohol consumption decreased from 80% in cohort 1 to 67% in cohort 5 (P < .007). The percentage of patients who consumed more than 3 drinks per day decreased from 23% in cohort 1 to 9% in cohort 5 (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over the past 25 years there has been a progressive decrease in the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol users in patients with oral cancer.
authors.affiliation: Head and Neck Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Pablo H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Montero
authors.forename: Purvi D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Frank L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Snehal G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Jatin P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ganly
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D009519:New York City; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015996:Survival Rate