Oral Cancer Among Patients Under the Age of 35 Years

BACKGROUND: Cancer of the oral cavity is one of the commonest cancers among males. AIMS: To assess the aetiological factors, patient characteristics, treatment and the outcome in young patients with oral cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive study of patients under the age of 35 years with cancer of the oral cavity treated between 1982-1996, with the last follow-up till 2001, using the tumour registry data of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Trivandrum, Kerala, India. SUBJECT AND METHOD: The detailed clinical, treatment and follow-up data were obtained from the computerised records of RCC and recorded on a preset proforma. This was analysed with emphasis on age, sex, risk factors, site, histology, clinical extent and treatment methods and survival in the study group. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The survival analysis was carried by Kaplan-Meier method and the difference in survival was analysed using log-rank test. RESULTS: Out of 264 patients analysed, tongue was the commonest site identified in 136 (52%) patients followed by buccal mucosa in 69 (26%) patients. A male female ratio of 2.3:1 was observed with a significantly higher male preponderance in buccal mucosa (4.3:1). Prior exposure to tobacco or alcohol was noted in 59.4% patients, with more habitu\ue9s in buccal mucosa cancer. Histological confirmation was present only in 83.7% patients and among them most were squamous cell carcinoma (85.9%). Radiotherapy, surgery or combined modalities of treatment were employed for majority of patients. The 5-year survival was 57.3%. T stage of the tumour was found to be significant in predicting disease free survival (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The importance of early detection for clinical down staging is stressed. There is a need to investigate the aetiology of intra oral cancers in younger patients since a significant proportion (almost 40%) of these patients do not have associated risk factors for cancer

Clinical profile of patients with nascent alcohol related seizures

Aim: The aim of this study is to characterize the clinical profile of patients with alcohol related seizures (ARS) and to identify the prevalence of idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) in the same. Materials and Methods: 100 consecutive male patients presenting to a tertiary care center in South India with new onset ARS were analyzed with alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) score. All underwent 19 channel digital scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and at least computed tomography (CT) scan. Results: A total of 27 patients (27%) who had cortical atrophy on CT had a mean duration of alcohol intake of 23.62 years compared with 14.55 years in patients with no cortical atrophy (P < 0.001). Twenty-two patients (22%) had clustering in the current episode of whom 18 had cortical atrophy. Nearly, 88% patients had generalized tonic clonic seizures while 12% who had partial seizures underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which identified frontal focal cortical dysplasia in one. Mean lifetime duration of alcohol intake in patients presenting with seizures within 6 hours (6H-gp) of intake of alcohol was significantly lower (P = 0.029). One patient in the 6H-gp with no withdrawal symptoms had EEG evidence for IGE and had a lower AUDIT score compared with the rest. Conclusion: CT evidence of cortical atrophy is related to the duration of alcohol intake and portends an increased risk for clustering. Partial seizures can be a presenting feature of ARS and those patients may benefit from MRI to identify underlying symptomatic localization related epilepsy (8.3% of partial seizures). IGE is more likely in patients presenting with ARS within first 6 hours especially if they do not have alcohol withdrawal symptoms and scalp EEG is helpful to identify this small subgroup (~1%) who may require long-term anti-epileptic medication

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome with PLEDs-plus due to mesalamine

A 32-year-old lady developed status epilepticus and acute visual loss while on mesalamine for Crohn’s disease. Her clinical course and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were suggestive of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). She had periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges plus (PLEDs-plus) on electroencephalogram (EEG), which responded to sodium valproate. Her vision improved from counting fingers at one-meter distance to 6/12. Though different cytotoxic drugs have been implicated as causative agents, this is the first case report of mesalamine-induced PRES. This case highlights the need for aggressive treatment of PLEDs-plus with EEG monitoring using a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug like valproate, which has contributed to the rapid reversibility of vision in PRES subjects, and the need for a thorough drug history for etiological clues

Oral cancer among patients under the age of 35 years

BACKGROUND: Cancer of the oral cavity is one of the commonest cancers among males. AIMS: To assess the aetiological factors, patient characteristics, treatment and the outcome in young patients with oral cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive study of patients under the age of 35 years with cancer of the oral cavity treated between 1982-1996, with the last follow-up till 2001, using the tumour registry data of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Trivandrum, Kerala, India. SUBJECT AND METHOD: The detailed clinical, treatment and follow-up data were obtained from the computerised records of RCC and recorded on a preset proforma. This was analysed with emphasis on age, sex, risk factors, site, histology, clinical extent and treatment methods and survival in the study group. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The survival analysis was carried by Kaplan-Meier method and the difference in survival was analysed using log-rank test. RESULTS: Out of 264 patients analysed, tongue was the commonest site identified in 136 (52%) patients followed by buccal mucosa in 69 (26%) patients. A male female ratio of 2.3:1 was observed with a significantly higher male preponderance in buccal mucosa (4.3:1). Prior exposure to tobacco or alcohol was noted in 59.4% patients, with more habitués in buccal mucosa cancer. Histological confirmation was present only in 83.7% patients and among them most were squamous cell carcinoma (85.9%). Radiotherapy, surgery or combined modalities of treatment were employed for majority of patients. The 5-year survival was 57.3%. T stage of the tumour was found to be significant in predicting disease free survival (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The importance of early detection for clinical down staging is stressed. There is a need to investigate the aetiology of intra oral cancers in younger patients since a significant proportion (almost 40%) of these patients do not have associated risk factors for cancer