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. 2017 Jun;16(2):158-163.
doi: 10.1007/s12663-016-0937-z. Epub 2016 Jul 8.

Analysis of Survival Rates Following Primary Surgery of 178 Consecutive Patients with Oral Cancer in a Large District General Hospital

Panagiotis Stathopoulos  1 , William P Smith  1
Affiliations

Analysis of Survival Rates Following Primary Surgery of 178 Consecutive Patients with Oral Cancer in a Large District General Hospital

Panagiotis Stathopoulos et al. J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to present the survival rates in patients treated for oral cancer with primary surgery in a large district general hospital. We discuss the influence of the most significant prognostic factors on survival and compare our results with larger centres specializing in the management of oral cancer.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with oral cancer from 1995 to 2006 and were treated in the Department had their details entered prospectively onto a computerized database. Demographic details of patients, type of treatment, pathological stage of tumor (TNM), local and regional recurrence rate, overall survival, disease specific survival and incidence of involved margins were recorded and calculated.

Results: Of the 178 patients, 96 (54 %) were alive and free of oral cancer 5 years after surgery. Forty-four patients died of oral cancer (24.7 %) but 38 (21.3 %) died of other causes. The overall survival rate after primary surgery in relation to stage was: I 84 %, II 71 %, III 36 % and IV 28 %.

Discussion: As almost half of our patients presented with advanced cancer and had discouraging survival rates, we emphasize the need for early recognition of the disease. Advanced disease signifies difficulty in obtaining clear margins which actually indicates a higher recurrence rate. 25 % of our patients died of oral cancer within 5 years of surgery which highlights the poor prognosis that recurrence carries after treatment. Effective educational campaign with purpose to raise oral cancer awareness and earlier referral may result in improvement of survival.

Keywords: Oral cancer; Recurrence; Surgical margins; Survival rates.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors of this paper have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of patients with respect to age
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Postoperative survival rates for male and female patients at 5 years post op
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall and disease specific survival at 5 years for 178 patients after primary surgery
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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