Exploring the Reasons for Delay in Treatment of Oral Cancer
Section snippets
SUBJECTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study includes all patients seen in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, University of California, San Francisco, between Jan. 1, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2007 (60 months), with a new diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. Exclusion criteria included other malignancies, recurrences, long-standing dysplasia, proliferative verrucous leukoplakia and other premalignant conditions. We chose these criteria because many of these patients were being seen on a regular basis by a
RESULTS
During the five-year study period, we identified 50 new patients with biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity who did not meet the exclusion criteria. Below are the time interval findings:
T1: mean time from the patient's first becoming aware of the problem to visiting a primary care clinician, 104.7 days (range, 0–730 days);
T2: mean time from the patient's visiting a primary care clinician to undergoing a biopsy or being referred, 35.9 days (range, 0–280 days);
T3: mean time
DISCUSSION
Oral cancer remains a public health problem, with approximately 8,500 people dying of the disease each year in the United States.1 In our study, the longest single delay in receiving treatment was from the time the patient became aware of a possible problem to his or her first visit to a primary care clinician. Other studies have confirmed this delay.18, 19, 20, 21, 22 The shortest time for a symptomatic patient to visit a clinician in this study was the same day that symptoms appeared, and the
CONCLUSION
Delays in the diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer occur in a number of stages in the referral and treatment process. The longest single delay in our study occurred between the patient's first becoming aware of symptoms and visiting a primary care clinician. Health care professionals need to place more emphasis on early self-referrals, as well as accelerate other portions of the referral process, particularly in referrals from a primary care clinician to a specialist. Screening and
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2022, Journal of Molecular StructureReexamination of delays in diagnosis of oral cancer following an intervention program in Cordoba, Argentina
2022, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral RadiologyCitation Excerpt :Results for patient delay are of concern, because they did not improve after the intervention program. However, the delays recorded in our work are better than values reported elsewhere.4,17,18 Average tumor doubling times of 87 and 96 days were reported.19
Disclosure. None of the authors reported any disclosures.
- 1
Dr. Peacock is a resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California, San Francisco.
- 2
Dr. Pogrel is a professor and the chairman, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, P.O. Box 0440, 521 Parnassus Ave., Room C-522, San Francisco, Calif., 94143-0440.
- 3
Dr. Schmidt is an associate professor and director, Residency Training Program, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California, San Francisco.