ORAL CAVITY CANCERS IN NORTH WEST PAKISTAN: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Objectives: To identify the common anatomical location, the prevalent age, sex, geographical and gender distribution, the use of tobacco and the histopathological characteristics in patients with oral cavity cancers. Material and Methods: A hospital based retrospective study, conducted at the Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM), Peshawar, Pakistan. The medical records of 628 patients of oral cavity cancers registered at IRNUM during the period of five years (1st Jan1999 to 31st Dec 2003) were studied. A Performa was designed and completed from these records. The information regarding the anatomical location (topography), geographical distribution, age and sex distribution, addiction to any form of tobacco and histopathological characteristics was extracted from these medical records and analyzed. Results: In this study, oral cavity cancers were more common in males (73.4%) than females (26.6%). The majority of cases i.e. 39% reported from Mardan and Peshawar divisions. The maximum numbers of oral cancer cases were seen in alveolus (40.7%). Next common sites were tongue (18.4%) and buccal mucosa (17.8%). Majority of oral cancers were squamous cell carcinomas (96.6%) and only 3.5% were non-squamous cell cancers. The majority presented in the age group between 40-60 years (63.8%) with a median age of 60 years. Addiction to tobacco was noted in 440/628 (70%) of cases. Conclusion: Oral cavity cancers affect people of over forty years of age and are related to tobacco use in various forms specially naswar in North Western areas of Pakistan. Alveolus is the most frequent site affected.