[Survival rate in epidermoid carcinoma of the oral cavity]

The present study aims to analyse the survival of 94 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. They were 86 men and 8 women with a mean age of 61. Seventy four percent were smokers and 70% consumed alcohol regularly. Eighty three percent had unhealthy teeth. A great majority of patients (76) were in the advanced stages (III-IV) and 61% showed neck nodules. The overall survival at 5 years was the following: 70% for patients in stage I, 85% in stage II, 58% stage III and only 17% for the patients in stage IV. The most significant prognostic factor that affected the survival was the N stage. For the patients in N0 and N1 we only found significant differences when the lymph nodes were histologically affected by the tumor.