Abstract

The purpose of this epidemiologic study was to provide clinically useful information on the fundamentals for both the diagnosis and treatment planning of oral squamous cell carcinoma, which comprises 80~90% of all oral cancers. One hundred and forty two patients diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma were selected from a total of 220 patients with oral malignancies. The patients’medical and follow-up records were reviewed and their survival was traced. The highest occurrence rate was observed in those aged between 60 and 69 years. The tongue was the most common primary site (31.7%) for oral squamous cell carcinoma. The survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The overall five-year survival rate of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients was 66.90%. The 5-year survival rate according to stage was 85.82% for stage I, and 49.98% for stage IV. The five-year survival rate according to the originating site was 91.67% for the retromolar trigone, 75.30% for the tongue, and 62.41% for the maxillary gingiva. In terms of cell differentiation, the majority (58.5%) was the well-differentiated type, which had a 5-year survival rate of 70.62%.