Anatomical landscape of oral squamous cell carcinoma: A single cancer center study in UAE

Heliyon. 2023 May 3;9(5):e15884. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15884. eCollection 2023 May.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to present demographic and clinicopathological aspects of OSCC identified in Pathology service in the UAE over a 13-year period and compare these findings to a cohort of 523 cases of Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using the Cancer Genome Atlas's cBioPortal database (http://cbioportal.org).

Material and methods: Histological examination of all hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides and assessment of all demographic and clinical information from laboratory records were performed on all OSCC diagnosed between 2005 and 2018.

Results: Males made up 71.4% of the sample of 231 OSCCs that were evaluated. The patients' average age was 55.38 years. The two most prevalent afflicted sites were the anterior two-thirds of the tongue (57.6%) and the cheek (28.1%). The most prevalent site among smokers were the floor of mouth, cheek, and jaw bones. There was a link between tumor size and numerous anatomical subsites that was shown to be highly significant. OSCC in the FOM was associated with a 25% mortality rate. Patients with OSCC of the anterior tongue and cheek had the best prognosis, with only 15.7% and 15.3% of patients dying during follow-up.

Conclusion: The present investigation found a correlation between the diverse clinicopathological characteristics of the various anatomical subsites in OSCC. Different anatomical subsites also displayed varying degrees of gene mutation.

Keywords: Anatomical sites; Base of tongue; Bioportal; Jaw bones; OSCC; Oral cancer; Oral tongue.