SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE ORAL CAVITY IN PATIENTS YOUNGER THAN 40 YEARS

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has been regarded as a di sease affecting the elderly several etiologic factors have been demons trated, such as tobacco acid alcohol use and premalignant lesions, whe reas others have been suspected, such as genetic or immunodeficiency d isorders. Recently, some reports have addressed a tendency toward an i ncrease in the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma In young patients. in recent years we have observed an increase In the number of squamou s cell carcinomas in patients younger than 40 years. Therefore we retr ospectively reviewed our clinical experience of cancer in those patien ts younger than 40 years. After screening 505 clinical charts, 294 pat ients met the criteria to enter our study. Twenty-four (8.2%) patients were aged 40 years or younger, Data collected included the history of premalignant lesions, etiologic factors, TNM stages, treatment modali ties, and histopathologic issues. Statistical analysis with Kaplan-Mei er survival rates and log-rank tests between various variables were ap plied. A significant association in survival was observed between patt erns of recurrence (p = 0.031) and presence of neoplastic cells 5 mm o r closer to the specimen margin. On the other hand, a lack of associat ion was assessed in carcinogenic-related habits and in premalignant le sions, likewise, although men showed a slightly worse prognosis than w omen, statistically no significant differences were found (p = 0.27).