Young age is not a predictor of disease specific survival in oral cancer: A multi-institutional study.

Abstract Background Over the last few decades evidence has accumulated for increasing incidence of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in a younger cohort. Prior studies examining the effect of age at diagnosis on prognosis have produced conflicting data. Methods A multi-institutional cohort study was performed across 6 different sites in Australia, Canada, India and Singapore. Disease-free (DFS), overall (OS) and disease-specific (DSS) survival were analysed. The association of the number of adverse features with survival outcomes was investigated. Results From 3179 patients, age was a significant predictor of OS with patients older than 45 years having a 66% increased risk of death (HR 1.66, 95%CI 1.33 – 2.07, p  Conclusions Age is not an independent predictor of disease specific mortality in OSCC. Differences in outcomes are due to the confounding effect of adverse clinicopathological features and the ability to tolerate surgery and adjuvant therapy.