Clinical Epidemiological Study of Oral Pre-cancer and Cancer in a Tertiary/Referral Hospital

Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence of oral cancer in patients reported to the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Tamil Nadu Government Dental College and Hospital. Materials and Methods: After selecting the patients with the clinical criteria the history of the habits, duration in months and frequency per day, duration of the symptoms, oral mucosal site involvement, lymph node involvement, associated with lesions were recorded in a structured proforma. Incisional biopsy under Local anaesthesia and histological examination was performed. The results obtained were analysed statistically. Results: 200 patients were diagnosed with oral cancer, 49% were male and 51% were females. In that 51(25%) were associated with premalignant lesions, 94 had only one habit, 74 had a combination of habits, 40% were histopathologically moderately differentiated followed by 33% poorly differentiated and 27% well differentiated. And patients with stage III (31%) and IV (43%) were reported predominantly than stage I (12%) and II (14%). Conclusion: Early diagnosis and intervention prevent the progression of oral cancer.

Keywords

• tobacco
• awareness
• oral cancer
• epidemiology