Characteristics of Oral Tongue and Base of the Tongue Cancer: A Hospital Cancer Registry Based Analysis

Background: Tongue cancer is one of the leading sites of cancer in our population. Aim: To evaluate thesocio-demographic profiles and stages at diagnosis of oral tongue (OT) and base of tongue (BT) cancers, andidentify any possible variations in characteristics. Materials and
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conductedon tongue cancer cases, divided into OT and BT, registered at the hospital cancer registry of North-East Indiaduring January 2010 to May 2013. Cases were analyzed for age, gender, residential status and different levels ofeducation for patients, the stage at diagnosis and presence of distant metastasis.
Results: A total of 1,113 casesof tongue cancers were registered, 846(76.1%) of BT and 267(23.9%) of OT. While 33.9% of BT cancer patientswere above 65 years of age, the figure for OT cancers was 18.4%, stages III and IV accounting for 90.8% and77%, respectively. The relative risk for distant metastasis in OT cancers was 3.3 (95% CI 1.08-10.1, p=0.03).
Conclusions: In the subsites of tongue cancers in our population, the majority arose from the base of tongue,these tending to occur in older individuals and presenting at late stage.