DIAGNOSTIC DELAY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER: UNDERSTANDING RELATED FACTORS

Authors

  • Dejanildo Jorge Veloso
  • Cyntia Ferreira Ribeiro
  • Ricardo Luiz Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Júnior
  • Luciana Maria Pedreira Ramalho
  • Luiz alcino Monteiro Gueiros
  • Allan ulisses Carvalho de Melo

Abstract

Objective: To discuss the main factors related to delay in the diagnosis of oral cancer and its influence on prognosis. Method: This is a literature review conducted in the databases PubMed, SciELO and BIREME, for the period 2002 to 2012, with the keywords “oral cancer”, “head and neck cancer” and “delay”. We found 141 articles in MEDLINEPubMed, 05 in SciELO and 51 in BIREME. After reading the abstracts, thirty articles were selected for analysis. Results: Several factors related to the tumor, patient, professional and local health system may cause and influence the diagnostic delay. The total period of delay can vary from few days to years, however, the most often cited interval was between 3-4 months and the patient was responsible for most of this delay. Few studies have shown statistically the association between greater delay in diagnosis and more advanced stage of oral cancer. Conclusion: The oral cancer diagnostic delay still lasts long in Brazil and worldwide. From a statistical view, the literature remains controversial about the main factors related to this issue and about its influence on prognosis. DESCRIPTORES: Mouth neoplasms. Delayed diagnosis. Oral Medicine.

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Published

2013-05-20

How to Cite

Veloso, D. J., Ribeiro, C. F., Albuquerque Júnior, R. L. C. de, Ramalho, L. M. P., Gueiros, L. alcino M., & Melo, A. ulisses C. de. (2013). DIAGNOSTIC DELAY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER: UNDERSTANDING RELATED FACTORS. Revista Brasileira De Ciências Da Saúde, 16(4), 579–584. Retrieved from https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs/index.php/rbcs/article/view/12030

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 4 (2012)

Section

Review

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