Oral and maxillofacial cancer: A 35-year retrospective analysis at a referral dental hospital in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: As rates of oral and maxillofacial cancer (OMFC) continue to rise, the role of dentists in early detection and prevention has become increasingly important. The present study examined the frequency and pattern of OMFC cases diagnosed at a referral dental hospital. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all primary malignant neoplasms of the oral and maxillofacial area diagnosed at the Histopathology Laboratory of the Dental University Hospital, Medical City, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia from 1984 to 2020 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 242 patients had histologically diagnosed primary malignant neoplasms of the oral and maxillofacial area, accounting approximately 3.7% of the archives. The mean age of patients was 48.87 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.5:1. The most prevalent malignant neoplasm was squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (58.3%), followed by mucoepidermoid carcinoma (11.6%). The tongue and gingiva were the most prevalent malignancy sites, accounting for 19.8% and 18.2% of the cases, respectively. The prevalence of SCC in patients over 50 years old (68.4%) was highly significantly greater than that in younger subjects (31.5%) (P < 0.0005). SCC was also more common in males (66.7%) than in females (33.3%) (P = 0.026). CONCLUSION: OMFC primarily affecting the tongue and gingiva was the predominant in older male patients. SCC was the most frequent type of OMFC and was significantly associated with age older than 50 years. This study provides baseline data on the frequency of OMFC cases diagnosed for the first time by dental practitioners and warrants the need for increasing OMFC awareness among these clinicians.