A Nationwide analysis of mortality trends in geriatric and non-geriatric patients with oral cavity tumors.

person Bushra Waseem Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA info_outline Bushra Waseem, Germame Hailegiorgis Ajebo, Allan N. Krutchik, Achuta Kumar Guddati

Authors person Bushra Waseem Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA info_outline Bushra Waseem, Germame Hailegiorgis Ajebo, Allan N. Krutchik, Achuta Kumar Guddati Organizations Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, LA Abstract Disclosures Research Funding Other Background: Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histological-subtype of oral cavity tumors and no major advances in its treatment have occurred recently. However, p16 positive tumors have been noted to have a better prognosis than p16 negative tumors. Older patients have increasingly been found to have p16 positive oral cavity cancers. This study explores the incidence based mortality of geriatric patients irrespective of p16 status. Methods: Data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Database was extracted to study the incidence-based mortality for the years 2000 to 2014. Incidence-based mortality for all stages of oral cavity tumors was queried and the results were grouped by age (geriatric vs. non-geriatric) and race (Caucasian/White, African American/Black, American Indian/Alaskan native and Asian/Pacific Islander). All stages and both genders were included in the analysis. T-test was used to determine statistically significant difference between various subgroups. Linear trend lines were used to visualize the mortality trends between various subgroups (Geriatric vs. Non- geriatric and Caucasian vs. African American). Results: Incidence-based mortality for oral cavity tumors has worsened since 2000 to 2014 for geriatric patients (p < 0.05) when compared to non-geriatric patients in both Caucasian/White patients and African American/Black patients. The results are summarized in the table below. Conclusions: The similarity in incidence-based mortality for geriatric patients with oral cavity tumors is high in all races and may imply age as a significant risk factor in these patients. A stage-specific, gender-specific and age-binned analysis may help differentiate these concerning trends. Geriatric vs. Non-geriatric Caucasian/White p < 0.05 African American/Black p < 0.05 American Indian/ Alaskan Native p < 0.05 Asian / Pacific Islander p < 0.05 Caucasian/White vs. African American/Black American Indian/ Alaskan Native vs. Asian / Pacific Islander Geriatric p > 0.05 p > 0.05 Non-geriatric p > 0.05 p < 0.05