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. 2019 Jun;41(6):1952-1960.
doi: 10.1002/hed.25650. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Early onset oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma: Associated factors and patient outcomes

Benjamin R Campbell  1 , Courtney B Sanders  2 , James L Netterville  3 , Robert J Sinard  3 , Sarah L Rohde  3 , Alexander Langerman  3 , Kyle Mannion  3 , Young J Kim  3 , Barbara A Murphy  4 , James S Lewis Jr  5 , Jeremy L Warner  4 , Derek K Smith  6 , Krystle A Lang Kuhs  3
Affiliations

Early onset oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma: Associated factors and patient outcomes

Benjamin R Campbell et al. Head Neck. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Incidence of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTC) is rising among those under age 50 years. The etiology is unknown.

Methods: A total of 395 cases of OTC diagnosed and/or treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 2000 and 2017 were identified. Of those, 113 (28.6%) were early onset (age < 50 years). Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with early onset OTC. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated survival and recurrence.

Results: Compared to typical onset patients, patients with early onset OTC were more likely to receive multimodality treatment (surgery and radiation; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-6.3) and report a history of snuff use (aOR, 5.4; 95% CI, 1.8-15.8) and were less likely to report a history of cigarette use (aOR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9). Early onset patients had better overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.6).

Conclusions: This is the largest study to evaluate factors associated with early onset OTC and the first to report an association with snuff.

Keywords: oral tongue; snuff; squamous cell carcinoma; tobacco; young.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall survival and recurrence for typical onset (blue) and early onset (red) OTC. Figure 1(a) shows a significantly improved overall survival (p = 0.046) for patients with early onset OTC. Figure 1(b) shows no difference in OTC recurrence between patients with typical and early onset OTC.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Predictive model of overall survival using recursive portioning analysis. Three subsets of OTC patients were identified and age at OTC diagnosis and N classification were predictive of overall survival. Abbreviations: OTC – oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma; HR – hazard ratio
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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