Epidemiological and Clinico-pathological spectrum of oral squamous cell carcinoma in patients presenting to a major tertiary care hospital in Lahore Pakistan

Objective: To establish demographics of OSCC patients presenting to a major tertiary care hospital and identify different potential risk factors. Study Design: Descriptive Cross Sectional study. Setting: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Mayo Hospital Lahore. Period: July 2021 to July 2022. Material & Methods: A total of 86 patients were included in the study. The diagnosis of OSCC was histo-pathologically confirmed. Patients of both gender and all ages were included in the study and a standard questionnaire was developed to collect data including bio-data, demographics and history of illicit habits. Results: Out of 86 patients 75.58% (n=65) were males and 24.41% (n=21) patients were females. The mean age of the patients was 47.02 years. Male to female ratio was 3.6:1. Well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was most common (53.48%), Majority presented with stage 4 disease. Highest proportion of the patients (29.6%) was having no obvious predisposing factor. Most commonly involved site was tongue followed by buccal mucosa. Conclusion: The disease trends are changing in our population, as the disease is increasingly affecting younger age group, tongue is now increasing being involved more commonly as in majority of the previous studies the incidence of OSCC of buccal mucosa was much higher, the incidence of OSCC without any obvious risk factor is increasing which needs further investigation.