Shifting Epidemiology Trends in Tongue Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

The tongue is the most common site for oral cavity carcinoma. It typically has male predominance. However, several studies have documented an increasing number of incidences among the younger population, with female predominance, which is unusual. In this study, we aimed to determine current trends in tongue cancer regarding age and gender. Data from 197 tongue cancer patients were extracted from The Oncology Center, Mansoura University (OCMU) database from 2006 to 2021. The patients were divided into two time periods: (2006-2013) and (2014-2021). We computed counts and proportions of tongue cancer for demographic and tumor characteristics. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Gender showed no statistically significant difference in both groups, while the percentages of diagnosed females were 52.7% and 52%, respectively. The percentages of males were 47.3% and 48%, p-value = 0.927. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of patients aged 20 to 39 years old and ≥60 years old in both periods. The p-values were 0.039 and 0.011, respectively. Although tongue cancer is typically more common in males, our results showed no significant difference in the gender of diagnosed patients. In addition, our results showed that the number of younger patients significantly increased in the period from 2014 to 2021. However, we encourage further investigations involving larger populations.

Keywords: epidemiology; gender; tongue cancer; young.

Figure 2

Bar charts demonstrating the distribution of patients’ age groups in two time periods (2006–2013) and (2014–2021).

Figure 3

(A) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (20–39 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks. (B) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (40–59 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks. (C) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (more than 60 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks.

Figure 3

(A) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (20–39 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks. (B) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (40–59 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks. (C) Graph demonstrating the numbers of patients diagnosed with tongue cancer in the age group (more than 60 years old) in two time periods with their mean ranks.

Figure 4

Bar chart showing numbers of total population in three age groups in 2013 and 2021.

Figure 1

Line graph showing numbers of diagnosed males and females over the period (2006–2021).