Clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in different age groups

Background The clinicopathological features and outcomes of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue in patients of different age groups remain debatable. Methods Medical records of 457 patients with tongue SCC were reviewed, grouped by age, followed up, and compared. Results Sex and TNM stage showed no intergroup differences. Tongue SCC in patients ≤30 years had the most advanced TNM classification and greatest proportion of poorly differentiation tumors. Both disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) showed no statistically significant difference between the youngest and the oldest groups (P = .605 and P = .520). However, there was a tendency of higher death rate caused by recurrence or metastasis in the youngest group compared with the others (91.7% vs 75.4% and 77.4%). Conclusion Young patients had a tendency of higher death rate caused by recurrence or metastasis than middle-age and older patients; therefore, a larger case sample is needed for further confirmation.