Epidemiological Study on Oral Cancer in the Dominican Population (2018-2024)

Abstract

Objectives: To identify epidemiological data on Oral Cancer (OC) in a population from Dominican Republic from 2018 to 2024. Methods: This cross sectional, retrospective and descriptive study was based on a database from the Dominican Institute of Dermatology and Skin Surgery “Dr. Huberto Bogaert”. Approval was obtained from the Iberoamerican University Ethical Committee. Twenty cases were selected according to gender, age group, anatomical location, clinical presumptive diagnosis, histological type, and degree of differentiation. Results: 20 cases representing OC were selected. Eleven (55.0%) were female and 9 (45.0%) male. Sixteen patients (80.0%) were older than 60 years, the rest were between 41 and 60 years, and 0 to 40 years. The most frequent anatomical site was the lower lip, observed in 7/20 cases (28.0%), of these 2 were females (8.0%) and 5 males (20.0%). The second most common site was the lateral border of the tongue in 6 patients (24.0%), 5 females (20.0%) and 1 male (4.0%). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was diagnosed in 18 patients. Histological grading showed 10 cases as well-differentiated SCC (38.5%), 4 females (15.4%) and 6 males (23.1%); 6 cases represented moderately differentiated SCC (23.1%), 5 female (19.2%) and 1 male (3.9%) respectively; and 2 female cases revealed superficially invasive SCC (7.7%). Conclusions: The frequency of OC was found to be higher in females and predominantly on the lower lip. This study underscores the importance of exploring risk factors, genetic and environmental, that may contribute to the incidence of OC in the studied population and highlights the need for implementing preventive programs based on early detection.