Sociodemographic, clinical and pathological features of oral squamous cell carcinoma in a Kenyan Centre

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer in the world and despite advances in medical care the survival trends for OSCC have not significantly improved over the years . Information about the sociodemographic, clinical and pathological presentation of OSCC in Kenya is scanty in the published literature. In order to further understand the disease this study aimed to determine the sociodemographic and clinicopathological features of OSCC in a Kenyan hospital population.Objectives: To determine the sociodemographic and Clinicopathological features of Oral Squamous cell Carcinoma (OSCC) at a Kenyan Centre.Study design: This was a descriptive prospective study.Study participants: Patients who presented with oral squamous cell carcinoma at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi.Results: Out of the 157 cases 61.8% and 38.2% were males and females respectively. Mean age of 58 Years. Majority were of cases were farmers while most the controls were in the informal sector. Pain was the most common symptom among the cases with 68.15% complaining of moderate to severe pain. Palpable submandibular and cervical lymph nodes were more common among those with lymphadenopathy. The well differentiated histological type was prevalent. Tongue was the most common site among all cases although OSCC had a predilection buccal mucosa among females.Conclusion: This study reveals that OSCC is predominantly a disease of the older male, pain a major symptom and tongue the most common site. Well differentiated carcinoma was predominant. We recommend further studies to determine the prognostic value of these features in this population