Characteristics of Oral Tongue and Base of the Tongue Cancer: A Hospital Cancer Registry Based Analysis

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Tongue cancer is one of the leading sites of cancer in our population. Aim: To evaluate thesocio-demographic profiles and stages at diagnosis of oral tongue (OT) and base of tongue (BT) cancers, andidentify any possible variations in characteristics. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: A retrospective analysis was conductedon tongue cancer cases, divided into OT and BT, registered at the hospital cancer registry of North-East Indiaduring January 2010 to May 2013. Cases were analyzed for age, gender, residential status and different levels ofeducation for patients, the stage at diagnosis and presence of distant metastasis. <br/><b>Results</b>: A total of 1,113 casesof tongue cancers were registered, 846(76.1%) of BT and 267(23.9%) of OT. While 33.9% of BT cancer patientswere above 65 years of age, the figure for OT cancers was 18.4%, stages III and IV accounting for 90.8% and77%, respectively. The relative risk for distant metastasis in OT cancers was 3.3 (95% CI 1.08-10.1, p=0.03).<br/><b>Conclusions</b>: In the subsites of tongue cancers in our population, the majority arose from the base of tongue,these tending to occur in older individuals and presenting at late stage.