DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF 59 PATIENTS WITH LIP CANCER AT A TERTIARY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN TURKEY - A SINGLE-CENTER EXPERIENCE.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the general demographic and clinical features, and our treatment outcomes in our patients with lip cancers, during the last 15 years. This study was conducted as a retrospective chart-review, and included a total of 59 patients with lip cancer, who were diagnosed, treated, and followed-up at the otorhinolaryngology department of Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Ibn-i Sina Hospital between 2000 to 2015. 91.5% of cases were male with a mean age of 61.2 years, 39% were farmers, 87% were smoking, 40.7% had dental prosthesis and 67.8% had poor oral hygiene. 93.2% of the cases had lower-lip tumors and 72.9% had stage 1 tumors. Postoperative pathological assessments revealed well-differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma in 58.3% of cases. Neck dissection was performed in 52.5% of patients. Five-year survival rate was 96.1% and 10-yeat survival was 72.1%. Patients with and without neck dissection had similar survival rates. Lip cancers are frequent cancers, and constitute a significant health problem regarding functional and esthetic roles of the mouth region. Early-diagnosis provides effective treatment, but advanced cases require complex resection and reconstruction techniques. Neck dissection in early-diagnosed cases did not contributed to survival in our cases.