Risk Factors for Advanced-Stage Oral Cavity Cancer

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Abstract
Objective: To assess the association between risk factors for inadequate surveillance of oral cavity cancer and stage of disease (localized, T1, T2/N0 vs advanced, T1, T2/N1-3, T3, T4/N0 or N1-3). Design: Convenience sample from a case series. Setting: Otolaryngology clinic in a tertiary care hospital. Participants: Fifty-three patients with cancer of the oral cavity who were treated at The University of Iowa, Iowa City, from October 1990 through March 1994, participated in the study. Selection criteria included pathologic confirmation of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)of the oral cavity, the capacity to retrieve data regarding tumor characteristics at initial presentation, and completion of a 30-item questionnaire by the patient. Intervention: Administration of questionnaire identifying factors contributing to inadequate surveillance of cancer of the oral cavity. Outcome Measurements: Advanced-stage cancer of the oral cavity was identified by the presence of large tumors (T3, T4) and cancer metastatic to the neck lymph nodes (N1, N2, N3). Comparison groups were built to determine the relationship between these two dependent variables and multiple independent variables. Descriptive