Oral cancer in young adults: report of three cases and review of the literature

Oral cancer in young adults is fortunately uncommon in the UK. However, sin ce it is so rare, when cases present they are often misdiagnosed and inappr opriately treated leading to delay in definitive treatment. This may, in tu rn, lead to a poorer prognosis for these patients. It is debatable if oral cancer in younger adults carries an inherently poor prognosis and presents with more aggressive tumours. Three cases of oral cancer in young adults, a ged under 30 years are presented and the literature reviewed with respect t o oral cancer in this group of patients.