International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery | February 2022 | Vol 8 | Issue 2 Page 150 International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Mehmi N et al. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Feb;8(2):150-154 http://www.ijorl.com pISSN 2454-5929 | eISSN 2454-5937 Original Research Article A clinicopathological study of squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity and oropharynx in non-smoker and non-drinker patients Namrita Mehmi 1 , Sanjeev Bhagat 1 *, Navneet Kaur 2 , Ravinder Singh 1 INTRODUCTION Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an anatomically heterogenous group of neoplasms arising from the mucosal surface of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, sinuses and other sites within the upper aerodigestive tract. 1 The international incidence of HNSCC (particularly of the oral tongue and oropharynx), has increased in young adults. 2 Role of tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking is well established in oral cavity and oropharyngeal SCC. However, there remains a small minority of head and neck cancer patient population who have no history of either smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol. 3 In these patients, other risk factors may contribute to development of SCC. Although a growing number of reports exist that examine head and neck cancers in non users of tobacco and head and neck cancers in young patients, the current literature examining the adult NSND head and neck cancer patient population is limited. 4-12 Cancers of oral cavity are generally easily amenable to early detection during routine screening examinations. On the other hand, tumors of the oropharynx remain ABSTRACT Background: To describe the clinicopathological variables of the Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of oral cavity and oropharynx in non-smoker and non-drinker patients (NSND). Methods: A retrospective review of thirty NSND patients with proven SCC of oral cavity and oropharynx in ENT department at Government Medical College Patiala. Data collected included demographics, aetiological factors, site, symptoms, nodal metastasis, histopathological grading and TNM staging at presentation. Results: In oral cavity cancers, patients presented commonly in 4th decade whereas in oropharynx, commonly in 6th decade. NSND patients were more likely to be female, male female ratio being 43:56. In NSND women, 82% had oral cavity SCC and 18% had oropharyngeal SCC. 13% of NSND patients reported sharp tooth, 10% reported regular environmental exposure, and 10% reported occupational exposure followed by lichen planus (6.67%). In oral cavity SCC, maximum incidence was that of oral tongue (59.1%) and in oropharyngeal SCC, base of tongue (62.5%) was most commonly involved. Overall, well differentiated SCC predominated in both oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinoma in our study. In oral cavity SCC, maximum patients presented in early tumor staging i.e T1 and T2 (81.8%) and early overall staging (stage I and II).In oropharyngeal SCC, maximum patients presented in advanced tumor staging i.e T3 and T4 (62.5%) and advanced overall staging (stage III, IV). Conclusions: In NSND patients, potential factors like sharp tooth, environmental smoke, occupational exposure and lichen planus may contribute to SCC in oral cavity and oropharynx. Keywords: Oral cavity, Oropharynx, Non-smoker, Non-drinker, Squamous cell carcinoma 1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, 2 Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India Received: 12 December 2021 Revised: 12 January 2022 Accepted: 13 January 2022 *Correspondence: Dr. Sanjeev Bhagat, E-mail: sbent244@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/ 10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20220146