Five-year Survival and Prognostic Factors Among Oral cavity Squamous cell Carcinoma Patients: Analyses of Data from the Cancer Institute of Iran

Background: We conducted a historical cohort study and studied the survival rate and prognostic factors of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma among patients admitted at the Cancer Institute of Iran. Methods: We recruited 352 patients who were referred to the Cancer Institute hospital in 2004-2011. Patients were newly diagnosed and pathologically confirmed as oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. We abstracted data from the archived medical records and followed up with the patients until their death or end of follow-up in January 2015. Results: A total number of 347 patients (212 males and 135 females) were analyzed in this study. Surgery, alone or in combination with other modalities, was performed in 308 (88.8%) patients. The median time of follow-up was 18.7 months. The 1, 3, and 5-year survival were 84%, 53%, and 41%, respectively. The risk of death was significantly higher in patients older than 70 years of age (HR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1-3.7), moderately differentiated tumors (HR: 3.6, 95% CI: 1.3-9.7), “surgery with adjuvant treatment” group (HR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.6-4.2), and the “surgery with neoadjuvant treatment” group (HR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.4-7.0). Patients diagnosed with a higher TNM staging also experienced a higher probability of death. An increase in the number of involved lymph nodes was another independent indicator of outcome. Conclusion: The 5-year survival rate of oral cancer was 41% among patients admitted to the Cancer Institute of Iran. A higher survival rate in early-stage oral cancer patients indicates the importance of early detection among these patients.