Differences in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma From Colombia and Spain: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective: To compare the clinicopathological characteristics and survival of two cohorts of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) from Spain and Colombia. Methods: Clinicopathological and survival variables of patients with OSCC from six maxillofacial surgery departments in Spain and Colombia were retrospectively reviewed. Variables were compared according to country of origin. Results: We included 649 patients, 359 from Spain and 290 from Colombia. The Colombian cohort was younger, drank more alcohol, had less comorbidities, and reported a greater mean number of days both from symptoms to diagnosis and from then to treatment, which was ∼2.5 times longer in the Colombian cohort. Colombian patients were diagnosed at a more advanced stage. The treatment of choice was resective surgery. In the Colombian cohort, more patients received radio and chemotherapy together with surgery. Second primary tumors and recurrences were more frequent in the Colombian sample (7.2% vs. 2.8%; p = 0.008) and in the Spanish cohort (32% vs. 23.1%; p = 0.012), respectively. Overall survival was similar between the two samples (HR = 1.15; 95% CI = 0.93–1.42; p = 0.195) and disease-specific survival was worse in the Colombian one (HR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.03–1.65; p = 0.027). Conclusions: There were epidemiological differences between patients with OSCC in both cohorts and a longer delay in diagnosis and treatment in the Colombian sample.