Prospective study on factors affecting the prognosis of oral cancer in a Chinese population

This study was performed to identify the factors affecting prognosis of oral cancer patients. 1240 pathologically confirmed oral cancer patients were included. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of all patients were collected. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess potential prognostic factors for survival. 1240 oral cancer patients were followed up for 49235.00 person months, and the 5-year overall survival rate was 64.38%. Both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that Body Mass Index < 18.5 kg/m(2) (vs 18.5–23.9 kg/m(2)), age ≥ 55 years (vs < 55 years), clinical stages of II-IV (vs stage I), and poor differentiation (vs well differentiation) were associated with worse survival of oral cancer patients. While surgery (vs non-surgery) and origin of urban area (vs rural area) were protective factors. However, no significant association was found between adjuvant therapy and survival in oral cancer patients.