Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue in patients less than thirty years of age.

Eleven patients less than thirty years of age who had squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue were treated at the M. D. Anderson Hospital from 1956 to 1973. The overall survival was 45 per cent. Many of the usual concomitant factors, such as heavy smoking, drinking, and poor dental hygiene were absent. Poorly differentiated, or grade III, squamous cell carcinoma was present in 48 per cent of the patients and indicated a poor prognosis regardless of the type of treatment. The primary lesion of the tongue was controlled in nine of the eleven patients. Recurrent cancer of the neck was observed in four patients. The selection of treatment in each case must be based on the various factors such as the size of the primary lesion, its histologic aspects, and the presence of nodal disease, and not on any emotional or subjective factors.