Survival analysis of age-related oral squamous cell carcinoma: a population study based on SEER

BACKGROUND: This research aimed to investigate the prognostic factors of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), especially the role of age. METHODS: A total of 33,619 cases of OSCC were received from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database during 2005–2015. Kaplan–Meier curves of 5-year overall survival rates and 5-year cancer-specific survival rates were performed, and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses as well as competing risk model were used to help understand the relationship between various factors and mortality of OSCC. RESULTS: Compared to 18–39-year-old group, the older age was an important predictor of worse prognosis. The multivariate analysis of overall survival (OS) was 50–59 years (HR, 1.32; 95% CI 1.17–1.48; p ≤ .001), 60–69 years (HR, 1.66; 95% CI 1.42–1.87; p ≤ .001) and 70 + years (HR, 3.21; 95% CI 2.86–3.62; p ≤ .001), respectively, while the specific value of competing risk model was 60–69 years (HR, 1.21; 95% CI 1.07–1.38; p = .002) and 70 + years (HR, 1.85; 95% CI 1.63–2.10; p ≤ .001). In addition, female gender, unmarried, Blacks, tumor in floor of mouth, size and higher Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) classification were also other predictors that signify significant clinically deterioration of OS/cancer-specific survival (CSS). CONCLUSIONS: Our research revealed that age was an important factor in explaining the difference of survival in the whole process of OSCC. It is suggested that we should pay attention to the influence of age on diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in the clinical process.