Squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aero-digestive tract in women.

Between 1970 and 1985, 95 women presenting carcinomas of the oral cavity, pharynx or larynx, were treated at the Institut Jean-Godinot. Classification of these patients according to age shows a bimodal curve and the existence of two different populations. The main difference between groups appears to be the existence or not of tobacco intoxication. According to this criteria, the two groups of patients are statistically different in mean age (nonusers 16 years older than users, p less than 0.01) and in the site of the primary, with an excess of carcinomas of the oral cavity in the nonusers group (p less than 0.01). In contrast, no difference was found in the locoregional extension of the tumor (TNM), in the modalities and result of treatment or in the evolution and survival of patients.