Diagnosis

Oral cavity carcinoma

Carcinoma of the lip, tongue, floor of mouth, gums, palate.

Etiology

Tumors of the oral cavity [vir][u8v]

Pathophysiology

  1. Chronic inflammation --> high cell turnover --> increased accumulation of mutations

  2. If DNA-mutation in the tumor suppressor genes --> No control mechanisms

  3. Uncontrolled growth of cancer

Risk factors [vup][mhi][ysr]

Complications [shw]

Epidemiology

Incidence per 100.000 [cbk][vir][fay][skw][vup][u8v]

Epidemiology chart for Incidence

Symptoms & findings

Symptoms

Erythroplakia, Leukoplakia, Lymphadenopathy, Trismus

Clinical findings

None listed.

Anamneses

Alcohol, Smoking, Sunlight exposure

Localized findings

Swelling
Radiates
Cavum oris (inside mouth)
Onset
Gradual (days)
Pattern
ConstantIncreasing

Approach

Treatment

  1. Surgery: Resection with neck dissection if nodal positivity or based on tumor depth [vup][xa0]

  2. Radiotherapy for locally advanced, unresectable disease

  3. Chemotherapy combined with surgery and/or radiotherapy

  4. Immunotherapy: Antibodies target specific genetic receptors on tumor cells

  5. Palliation:

    • Palliative radiotherapy

    • Anticipatory medications aimed at symptom management at the end-of-life care

Differential diagnoses

Actinic keratosis, Aphthous stomatitis, Candidiasis, Hemangioma, Herpes simplex, Human papillomavirus, Keratoacanthoma, Leukoplakia, Lichen planus, Lipoma, Neurofibromatosis, Oral hairy leukoplakia


References

[1] BenNasir E, El Mistiri M, McGowan R, Katz RV. Oral cancer in Libya and development of regional oral cancer registries: A review. Saudi Dent J. 2015 Oct;27(4):171-9.

[2] Sufiawati I, Piliang A, Yusuf AA, Dewi TS, Agustina H, Azhar Y, Idris A. Clinicopathological Characteristics of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma at the Central Referral and Teaching Hospital in West Java, Indonesia. Cancer Manag Res. 2024 Aug 21;16:1053-1061.

[3] Watters C, Brar S, Pepper T. Cancer of the Oral Mucosa. Updated 2024 Mar 15]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565867/

[4] Sexton GP, Hintze JM, Walsh P, Moriarty F, Lennon P, Fitzgerald CWR, O'Neill JP. Epidemiology and management of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma in Ireland. Am J Otolaryngol. 2024 May-Jun;45(3):104235.

[5] Chamoli A, Gosavi AS, Shirwadkar UP, Wangdale KV, Behera SK, Kurrey NK, Kalia K, Mandoli A. Overview of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: Risk factors, mechanisms, and diagnostics. Oral Oncol. 2021 Oct;121:105451.

[6] Salehiniya, H., & Raei, M. (2020). Oral cavity and lip cancer in the world: An epidemiological review. Biomedical Research and Therapy, 7(8), 3898-3905.

[7] Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray F. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015 Mar 1;136(5):E359-86.

[8] Shiboski CH, Schmidt BL, Jordan RC. Tongue and tonsil carcinoma: increasing trends in the U.S. population ages 20-44 years. Cancer. 2005 May 1;103(9):1843-9.

[9] Schmidt Jensen J, Jakobsen KK, Mirian C, Christensen JT, Schneider K, Nahavandipour A, Wingstrand VL, Wessel I, Tvedskov JF, Frisch T, Christensen A, Specht L, Andersen E, Lelkaitis G, Grønhøj C, von Buchwald C. The Copenhagen Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma database: protocol and report on establishing a comprehensive oral cavity cancer database. Clin Epidemiol. 2019 Aug 19;11:733-741.

[10] http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1075729 (2014-01-02); [Medscape]

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