Oral Cavity Cancer Prognosis Has Improved Over Time

What are the temporal trends demographics, treatment, and prognosis of oral cavity cancer over a 40-year period?

Bottom Line
OCSCC prognosis has improved significantly from the early 1970s to recent years, associated with an increased use of adjuvant therapy and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in late-stage oral cancer.

Background: The general therapeutic approach to oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) — surgery followed by adjuvant radiation in cases with high-risk pathologic features or high-stage disease — has not changed. One exception has been the adoption of adjuvant concomitant chemoradiotherapy for certain high-risk pathologic features, but the extent to which quality of life improvements have truly altered OCSCC prognosis nationally over time is not clear.

Study design: Retrospective database analysis of 16,030 adult patients diagnosed with oral cavity cancer and treated surgically between 1973 and 2014.

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