Oral cancer in Jordan: a retrospective study of 118 patients

To evaluate clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of oral cancer in Jordan.

We retrospectively analyzed the medical records 118 consecutive patients treated for oral cancer from 1989 until 1998.

The age of the patients ranged from 35 to 90 years (median 62.5 years); three quarters were men. Ninety patients (76%) were smokers and 6 (5%) drank alcohol. The floor of the mouth was the most common site for oral cancer, followed by the tongue. The male/female ratio was 3.1:1. The majority of T1 tumors were treated by surgical excision, T2 tumors by surgery or radiotherapy, and T3 and T4 tumors without evidence of nodal disease by radiotherapy. Patients with nodal disease were treated primarily by surgery. In the absence of nodal disease, T1, T2, T3, and T4 tumors had 5-year survival rates of 95%, 95%, 81%, and 25%, respectively, whereas the patients with nodal disease had a poorer prognosis, with survival rates of 37%, 29%, 12% and 0% for T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. The 5-year survival rate decreased from 80% to 20% as the stage of disease progressed from I to IV. The overall 5-year survival for all stages of disease was 62/118 (53%). Patients treated with surgery alone (5-year survival rate 62%), and those treated with postoperative radiotherapy (5-year survival rate 81%) did better than patients treated with radiotherapy alone (31%).

Complete surgical resection combined with radiotherapy results in the best therapeutic outcome.