BACKGROUND: The buccal cancer incidence in Brazil is one of the highest in the world. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate profile, risk factors and survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma between 1982 and 2002 in a Brazilian population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Age, gender, tumor site, previous clinical history, tobacco and alcohol consumption, actinic exposure, trauma by dental prosthesis, recurrences, metastases and survival rates were obtained from the medical files. RESULTS: From 340 patients, 84.4% were men and 15.6%, women (5.4:1). The lingual lesions were the most frequent ones (27.9%). Twenty percent of the patients reported trauma by dental prosthesis and in 73.8% of the lesions in lower lip an unprotected actinic exposure was reported. There was no difference between anatomical region and tobacco consumption concerning recurrences and regional or distant metastases. The average time of previous clinical history was 13 months, with significant differences among the anatomical regions. The 5-year-old survival rates were 24%. The survival rate of patients with recurrences and/or metastases varied according to age (< 60 or > 60), but not to previous medical history or anatomical regions. The man/woman discrepancy found was high, but decreased according to the rise of age. Tobacco and alcohol consumption is elevated in this population, but did not influence recurrences and metastases. The time of evolution of the lesions was long until the search for medical service. CONCLUSIONS: The low survival rates reflect the need of a more careful attention to buccal cancer in this population.
Oral cavity cancer; Squamous cell carcinoma; Risk factors; Incidence; Survival
