The impact of age on oral squamous cell carcinoma: a longitudinal cohort study of 2782 patients

The purposes of this study were to assess the influence of age on oral squamous cell carcinoma patients and sought to analyze the reasons that may contribute to this difference. This study enrolled 2782 patients included 2443 patients in a retrospective cohort to find the influence of age and 339 patients in a prospective cohort to testify these findings. The patients were divided into young age group (≤40 years old), moderate age group (41-75 years old) and advanced age group (>75 years old). All patients were diagnosed as oral squamous cell carcinoma and were surgically treated in our hospital. Chi square test, Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional-hazards regression model were performed for statistical analysis. Younger patients started smoking (p