Early-Onset Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Increasingly Presenting as Tongue Tumors

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By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 13, 2026.

via HealthDay

MONDAY, April 13, 2026 -- Early-onset oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (EO-OCSCC) is increasingly presenting as tongue tumors, and cases in women are increasing, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Mateo Useche, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine temporal trends in presentation and survival among patients with EO-OCSCC using data for adults aged younger than 50 years in the National Cancer Database.

Overall, 21,630 (12.1 percent) of the 178,140 OCSCC cases were EO-OCSCC, with a median age of 44 years. The researchers found that the most common subsite was the tongue (66.9 percent), which increased over time (odds ratio per year, 1.03). There was a steady increase in female cases (odds ratio per year, 1.01), narrowing the male-female gap. In tongue and nontongue tumors, advanced-stage disease increased by five and three percent annually, respectively. Five-year overall survival was higher in tongue tumors than nontongue tumors (73.7 versus 61.5 percent) and increased over time; the annual reductions in mortality risk were 1.1 and 1.9 percent for tongue and nontongue tumors, respectively. Survival was highest for patients aged 20 to 29 years and lowest for those aged 40 to 49 years.

"Multi-institutional and global collaboration will be paramount to characterizing and addressing the issue of early-onset oral cavity cancer. Raising awareness among both the public and health care providers will be crucial to limiting delays in diagnosis," coauthor Brittany Barber, M.D., also from the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in a statement.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-04-14 02:09

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