Evalution of epidemiological characteristics of cases diagnosed with oral cancer at the department of oral, dental, and maxillofacial surgery, Hacettepe University Faculty of dentistry: a retrospective study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the tumor localization, age and gender distribution of patients diagnosed with oral cancer at the Department of Oral, Dental, and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry between 1980 and 2024, as well as to calculate the frequency of oral cancer. Additionally, it aims to evaluate epidemiological changes in oral cancerpatients over the past 10 years compared to earlier years. In this study, a total of 6,712 biopsy reports were reviewed, and a total of 145 patients (87 male and 58 female) diagnosed with oral cavity cancer were included. The average age of the patients was found to be 49 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.5:1. The incidence of cancer was 2.05% before 2014, while it was determined to be 2.31% in the last 10 years. No statistically significant difference was found between the incidence rates of the two periods. However, a statistically significant increase was observed in female patients diagnosed with oral cancer (p = 0.041) and in the average age of patients (p = 0.001) over the last 10 years. Patients diagnosed with oral cancer were categorized into six groups according to the tissue of origin of the tumor: epithelial malignancies, hematological diseases and malignancies, salivary gland malignancies, sarcomas and other mesenchymal malignancies, metastatic tumors, and other malignancies. Epithelial tumors were the most common type of oral cancer, accounting for 55.9%, followed by salivary gland tumors (17.9%) and hematological diseases and malignancies (14.5%). The most common malignant tumor was identified as oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which constituted 76.5% of epithelial origin tumors and 42.8% of all oral cancer cases. This was followed by lymphoma (9.7%) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (9%). When comparing the periods from 1980 to 2014 and the last 10 years, no statistically significant differences were found in OSCC regarding age, gender, and affected regions. According to the study data, while oral cancer still appears more frequently in men, there is an increase in incidence among women. This situation may be attributed to increased awareness among women and a rise in the frequency of dental visits following changes occurring in the oral cavity. It is believed that the aging population may influence the frequency of oral cancer in older patients. Establishing cancer registry systems is thought to be beneficial for evaluating etiological factors, calculating cumulative risk ratios, and predicting at risk groups. Keywords: Oral cavity cancer, oral cancer incidence, oral squamous cell cancer