Oral malignant tumours: a report on 728 cases in Chile.

The objective of this study was to describe the main clinical characteristics and the relative frequency of each type of oral malignancies received at the Oral Pathology Reference Institute (IREPO) of the Faculty of Odontology; University of Chile, since 1975 to 2006. Studies were performed of 728 cases of biopsies recorded in the IREPO data base with a diagnosis corresponding to some type of Oral Malignant Tumour (OMT) and which counted with all required clinical and demographic data. Histological sections were observed by two oral pathologists with the purpose of confirming the original diagnosis. 61.6% of OMTs were observed in males and 38.4% in females. Patients average age was 65.3 years, and the most frequent localization was the alveolar/gums ridge (20% of the cases) being the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) the most frequent pathology (58.4%) These results are similar to the frequencies of oral malignancies reported for other countries as to distribution per gender, age, histological diagnosis. Nevertheless, frequency distribution of each of the OMTs is different to that indicated in most publications.