Gender predilection in oral cancer - A university based study

Abstract

Oral cancer is said to be a malignant neoplasm of the oral cavity. It is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to the surrounding tissues. Oral cancer has a predilection for certain sites, most common being the lips, followed by the tongue, cheeks, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx. In general, a high male to female ratio of occurrence of oral cancer is seen. The main risk factors for oral cancer are smoking, alcohol, gutkha, paan and other factors such as cheek biting and sharp cusps also seem to influence the occurrence of oral cancer. The study aims at assessing the gender of patients who have been diagnosed with oral cancer to see if there is any predilection for oral cancer based on gender to occur. The study was done in a University set up in a Private Dental College, Chennai. This study was done retrospectively by analysing case records of patients who reported between the months of June 2019 to March 2020. Simple random sampling was done to minimize sampling bias. After reviewing, the case sheets were filtered based on the data required. The final sample size was 50 patients with oral cancer. The data pertaining to the gender of the patient was collected. It was observed that from those 50 patients with oral cancer, 78% of them were males and 22% of them were female. Chi-square test shows p>0.05, not significant. The study concludes that the males were affected more than females.