A Preliminary Comparative Study of the Prognostic Implications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus for Patients With Primary Gingival Carcinoma Treated With Surgery and Radiation Therapy

Ujpál, Márta; Barabás, József; Kovalszky, Ilona; Szabó, György; Németh, Zsolt; Gábris, Katalin; Suba, Zsuzsanna

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2006.09.015

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Volume 65, Issue 3 , Pages 452-456, March 2007

A Preliminary Comparative Study of the Prognostic Implications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus for Patients With Primary Gingival Carcinoma Treated With Surgery and Radiation Therapy

Márta Ujpál, DMD, PhD
- Reader, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Ujpál: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, H-1085 Budapest Maria u 52, Hungary
József Barabás, MD, PhD
- Professor and Director, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Ilona Kovalszky, MD, DSC
- Professor, Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
György Szabó, MD, DSC
- Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Zsolt Németh, MD
- Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Katalin Gábris, DMD, PhD
- Reader, Department of Pedodontics and Orthodontics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Zsuzsanna Suba, MD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.

Purpose

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) may be a risk factor in determining cancer progression. The aim of this study was to compare the progression of primary gingival cancer in patients with DM2 and nondiabetic patients.

Patients and Methods

Prospective follow-up studies involved patients with gingival squamous cell carcinoma in stage T2-3N0M0. Treatment comprised surgical tumor extirpation, block resection of the mandible, functional cervical dissection, and 60 Gy of adjuvant irradiation. The patients were divided into a group of patients with DM2 (DM group) and a nondiabetic, control group. Progression data was recorded after a 2-year period of clinical follow-up. Surgical samples were assessed histopathologically from the aspect of tumor spread.

Results

At the end of a 2-year follow-up period, the DM group demonstrated significantly worse clinical results in terms of cervical lymph node metastases (P < .05) and mortality rate (P < .001). Histologically, the degree of tumor invasion was significantly different in the DM group and controls (P < .01).