Prognosis for gingival carcinomas with a delayed diagnosis after dental extraction

Abstract

Purpose: In gingival squamous cell carcinoma (GSCC), the association between survival and previous dental extraction (DE) is controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognosis for patients in whom GSCC was detected after DE was performed. Patients and Methods: DE for GSCC tumor symptoms was performed in 19 patients before diagnosis (DE group) and not in 58 patients (non-DE group). The clinical features, characteristics, and prognosis were evaluated statistically between the 2 groups. Results: The interval from DE to the first hospital visit was 1.1 to 97 weeks (median, 7.3 weeks). There was no significant difference in tumor status, node status, local recurrence, pathologically positive lymph nodes, or distant metastasis between the DE and non-DE groups. Bone invasion was observed radiographically in 6 patients with mandibular GSCC in the DE group (100%) and 13 in the non-DE group (68.4%). There was a significant difference in bone invasion between the DE and non-DE groups (P