title: Oral squamous cell carcinoma among Yemenis: Onset in young age and presentation at advanced stage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oral cancer represents a health burden worldwide. Up to 90% of oral cancer cases are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). The data on oral SCC in Yemen are lacking. The objective of this study therefore was to describe and analyze the demographic, clinical and histological characteristics of Yemeni patients with oral SCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, two sets of retrospective data for Yemeni cancer patients were obtained officially by two different registries. Patients with oral SCC were included. Their ages were dichotomized using 40 and 45 years alternately as individual cut-points for young and old patients. The patients` demographic, clinical and histological characteristics were statistically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 457 Yemenis with oral SCC; 253 patients (55.4%) were men. The overall mean age was 58.15±14.11 years. The tongue was the most affected oral sub-site accounting for 53% of the reported cases. The well and moderately differentiated oral SCC accounted for 55.5% and 25.6% of the total cases respectively. Noteworthy, 62 patients (14%) were affected by the age of ?40; this increased to 105 patients (23%) aged ?45 years. Additionally, a high proportion of oral SCC patients (62%, 283) were diagnosed at advanced tumor stages (regional extension or metastasized). The distributions of histological grades and tumor stages in young and old patients were significantly different (P=0.006 and 0.026 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relative frequency of oral SCC among Yemeni young people is high. Unfortunately, most of oral SCC patients in Yemen were diagnosed at advanced stage. Key words:Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Yemen, young patients, advanced stage.
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Esam
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Halboub
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine and Research Clinic, Medically Compromised Clinics and Research Unit, Department of Dentistry/Riyadh Military Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Maha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Mohaya
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdulhuq
authors.affiliation: Oral Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Mandili
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Al-Anazi