Early diagnosis of asymptomatic oral and oropharyngeal squamous cancers.

An examination of the oral cavity and oropharynx in asymptomatic patients at high risk requires an orderly visual inspection of the entire oral and oropharyngeal mucosa with particular attention to the tongue, floor of mouth, soft palate, uvula, tonsillar pillars, and the lingual aspects of the retromolar trigones. Completion and clear documentation of the entire examination should be recorded. Detected lesions that do not resolve in a reasonable length of time--two to three weeks--require intense and assiduous investigation.

Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx among U.S. veterans.

Background: Independent carcinogenic effects of alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking as well as their interaction can be usefully studied in a population of heavy drinkers and smokers.

Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted during 1972 to 1983 in a large Veterans hospital in East Orange, New Jersey. A total of 359 oral cavity-oropharynx cancer cases and 2280 controls were interviewed according to tobacco smoking, use of smokeless tobacco, alcoholic beverage, coffee and tea drinking, race, family origin, religion, and occupation as bartender.

Carcinogenic effect of tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking on anatomic sites of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

A series of 359 male patients with 424 cancer lesions of the oral cavity and oropharynx identified at a US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center were divided according to site of origin of the lesion and compared with 2,280 controls from the same hospital with respect to exposure to tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking. Sites of origin were: floor of the mouth (153), oral tongue (50), anterior tonsillar pillar (49), soft palate (44), lingual aspect of retromolar trigone (11), alveolar ridge (5), buccal mucosa (4), and hard palate (2). Forty-one patients had cancers in multiple sites.

Role of tobacco and alcoholic beverages in the etiology of cancer of the oral cavity/oropharynx in Torino, Italy.

A population-based case-control study of cancer of oral cavity-oropharynx was conducted in the city of Torino, Italy, between 1982 and 1984. One hundred twenty-two cases (86 males and 36 females) and 606 controls (385 males and 221 females) were compared with respect to lifelong alcohol and tobacco consumption. A 4- to 6-fold increase in risk among subjects with medium or high tobacco consumption was observed, as well as a trend in increasing risk with duration and with earlier age at the start of smoking.

Appearance, site of occurrence, and physical and clinical characteristics of oral carcinoma in Torino, Italy.

The appearance, site of occurrence, and selected physical and clinical characteristics are reported for 102 symptomatic carcinomas diagnosed during a 30-month period in Torino, Italy. Erythroplasia was a more significant visual component than leukoplakia, confirming the results of a previous study on asymptomatic cancer in a US population. Floor of the mouth, oral tongue, and soft palate complex accounted for 75% of all sites and 84% of sites if posterior pillar is excluded.

Early detection, diagnosis, and management of oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

1. Drinkers and cigarette smokers are at very high risk for the development of upper aerodigestive tract and lung squamous carcinomas. 2.

Clinical criteria for identifying early oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma: erythroplasia revisited.

From 1961 to 1981, we evaluated 502 asymptomatic oral and oropharyngeal lesions in a veterans population of tobacco and alcohol users. Three hundred twenty-six cancers (236 invasive and 90 in situ) in 276 patients were recorded and described. For invasive cancers and in situ lesions, 64 percent and 54 percent, respectively, were red or predominantly red.

Relation of thickness of floor of mouth stage I and II cancers to regional metastasis.

We have reviewed the clinical course and histologic findings in 84 patients with stage I and II squamous carcinoma of the mouth floor. We concluded that lesion thickness may offer a useful method for predicting the probability of cervical metastasis in node negative (N0) patients. Moreover, surface area of the lesion did not correlate with subsequent nodal disease, whereas thickness did.

A study of the relationship between mouthwash use and oral and pharyngeal cancer.

As part of a larger case control study on a male veteran population at risk (drinking and smoking) for oral and pharyngeal cancer, 95 cases and 913 controls provided complete histories in a questionnaire that included data on mouthwash use. Analysis revealed no significant differences in the frequency of mouthwash users in cancer cases versus controls. In addition, no significant differences could be found between users and nonusers of mouthwash in relation to age or smoking and drinking habits.

Tolonium (toluidine blue) rinse--a screening method for recognition of squamous carcinoma. Continuing study of oral cancer IV.

Tolonium chloride (toluidine blue) application is useful for identifying malignant changes in squamous mucosa. However, early asymptomatic mucosal changes may remain undetected by tolonium application. A study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using a tolonium mouth rinse as a routine procedure after thorough clinical examination, to discover undetected cancers.

Alcohol as a primary risk factor in oral squamous carcinoma.

This case-control study investigates the role of alcohol as a primary risk factor in the development of oral cancer. A total of 181 patients diagnosed as having squamous carcinoma of the oral cavity were interviewed, and 497 controls. The relative risk for drinkers adjusted for smoking was 3.