The Effect of Marital Status on the Treatment of Cancer of the Mouth

Oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers are frequently described as part of a group of oral cancers or head and neck cancer. Treatment of oral cavity cancer is generally surgery followed by radiotherapy, whereas oropharyngeal cancers, which are more likely to be advanced at the time of diagnosis, are managed with radiotherapy or chemoradiation. Surgery for oral cancers can be disfiguring and both surgery and radiotherapy have significant functional side effects, notably impaired ability to eat, drink and talk. Risk factors that include the human papilloma virus (HPV), oral sex, a poor diet and differences in the habits regarding socio-demographic characteristics suggest that all these factors do play an important role in the early diagnosis and prognosis. This is a routine database analysis, comparable to a cross-sectional study 20 design. 2,569 individuals with cancer of the mouth, diagnosed in the state of Florida between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 2002 were studied. The objective of the study was to analyze the effect of sociodemographic factors, such as marital status on the treatment of cancer of the mouth. The outcome was considered the vital status (dead or alive) and the exposure factor was treatment (exposed (SUR+RT), vs unexposed (SURGERY)). Histology and Marital Status were found to be Effect Modifiers. The results are illustrated below. Single patients with squamous cell carcinoma at a localized or regionalized stage, are 69% more likely to die if they follow surgery + radiation than married patients.