The Accuracy of Oral Cancer Clinical Diagnosis in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital
An Indonesian National Referral Hospital Study
Abstract
Background: Early diagnosis of oral cancer is believed to increase the survival rate. To the best of our knowledge, no research has been done on the accuracy of oral cancer clinical diagnosis in Indonesia. Purpose: This study aims to assess the accuracy of clinical diagnoses for patients presenting to the oral medicine clinic with suspected oral cancer lesions. Methods: This study is a retrospective cross-sectional study with convenience sampling, including patients who presented to the Oral Medicine Clinic of Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital from January 2018 to December 2020 with suspected oral cancer lesions. A clinical diagnosis is accurate if the histologic diagnosis falls into the premalignant or malignant category. Results: As many as 112 cases of suspected tumours of the oral cavity were listed from January 2018 to December 2020. Only 58 patients met the inclusion criteria. The accuracy of clinical diagnosis was 89%. Most of the patients were in stage 4 oral cancer. The range of delay was 1 week to 192 weeks, with a mean of 27.60 ± 34.71 weeks. Conclusion: The clinical diagnosis accuracy of the oral medicine clinic was excellent. Unfortunately, most of the patients had stage 4 oral cancer when they arrived at the hospital. The delay in diagnosing oral cancer may be minimised if individuals and professionals in primary health centres were better educated.References
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2. Dhanuthai K, Rojanawatsirivej S, Thosaporn W, Kintarak S, Subarnbhesaj A, Darling M, Kryshtalskyj E, Chiang C, Shin H, Choi S, Lee S, Shakib P. Oral cancer: A multicenter study. Med Oral Patol Oral Cirugia Bucal. 2017; : 0–0.
3. Pitiphat W, Diehl SR, Laskaris G, Cartsos V, Douglass CW, Zavras AI. Factors associated with delay in the diagnosis of oral cancer. J Dent Res. 2002; 81(3): 192–7.
4. Güneri P, Epstein JB. Late stage diagnosis of oral cancer: Components and possible solutions. Oral Oncol. 2014; 50(12): 1131–6.
5. Inchingolo F, Santacroce L, Ballini A, Topi S, Dipalma G, Haxhirexha K, Bottalico L, Charitos IA. Oral cancer: A historical review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(9): 3168.
6. Zanoni DK, Patel SG, Shah JP. Changes in the 8th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging of Head and Neck Cancer: Rationale and Implications. Curr Oncol Rep. 2019; 21(6): 52.
7. Gigliotti J, Madathil S, Makhoul N. Delays in oral cavity cancer. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2019; 48(9): 1131–7.
8. Aupérin A. Epidemiology of head and neck cancers: an update. Curr Opin Oncol. 2020; 32(3): 178–86.
9. Braun LW, Martins MAT, Romanini J, Rados PV, Martins MD, Carrard VC. Continuing education activities improve dentists’ self‐efficacy to manage oral mucosal lesions and oral cancer. Eur J Dent Educ. 2021; 25(1): 28–34.
10. Buenahora MR, Peraza-L A, Díaz-Báez D, Bustillo J, Santacruz I, Trujillo TG, Lafaurie GI, Chambrone L. Diagnostic accuracy of clinical visualization and light-based tests in precancerous and cancerous lesions of the oral cavity and oropharynx: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Oral Investig. 2021; 25(6): 4145–59.
11. Marlina E, Sumintarti, Ilmar H, Yusran A, Usman NA, Israyani, Mauliana AA. Oral potentially malignant disorder awareness level among elder community in the Belawa Distric, Wajo, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. J Dentomaxillofacial Sci. 2022; 7(3).
12. Mardhiana A, Harlina H. Student knowledge and awareness of oral cancer (study at Senior High School 2 Baubau, Southeast of Sulawesi). J Dentomaxillofacial Sci. 2016; 1(1): 45.
13. Moye VA, Chandramouleeswaran S, Zhao N, Muss HB, Weissler MC, Hayes DN, Zevallos JP. Elderly patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and the benefit of multimodality therapy. The Oncologist. 2015; 20(2): 159–65.
14. Morikawa T, Shibahara T, Takano M, Iwamoto M, Takaki T, Kasahara K, Nomura T, Takano N, Katakura A. Countermeasure and opportunistic screening systems for oral cancer. Oral Oncol. 2021; 112: 105047.
15. Scott SE, Grunfeld EA, McGurk M. Patient’s delay in oral cancer: a systematic review. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2006; 34(5): 337–43.
16. Goy J, Hall SF, Feldman-Stewart D, Groome PA. Diagnostic delay and disease stage in head and neck cancer: A systematic review. The Laryngoscope. 2009; 119(5): 889–98.
17. Swaminathan D, George NA, Thomas S, Iype EM. Factors associated with delay in diagnosis of oral cancers. Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2024; 40: 100831.
18. Gondhowiardjo S, Hartanto S, Wirawan S, Jayalie VF, Astiti IAP, Panigoro SS, Sekarutami SM, Rachman A, Bachtiar A. Treatment delay of cancer patients in Indonesia: a reflection from a national referral hospital. Med J Indones. 2021; 30(2): 129–37.
19. Lima Am, Meira IA, Soares MS, Bonan PR, Mélo CB, Piagge CS. Delay in diagnosis of oral cancer: a systematic review. Med Oral Patol Oral Cirugia Bucal. 2021; : e815–24.
20. Mauceri R, Bazzano M, Coppini M, Tozzo P, Panzarella V, Campisi G. Diagnostic delay of oral squamous cell carcinoma and the fear of diagnosis: A scoping review. Front Psychol. 2022; 13: 1009080.
Published
2025-07-24
How to Cite
PARAMITA, Felicia; TRI WULANDARI, Endah Ayu.
The Accuracy of Oral Cancer Clinical Diagnosis in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.
Journal of Indonesian Oral Medicine Society, [S.l.], v. 2, n. 3, p. 20-24, july 2025.
ISSN 3026-6688.
Available at: <http://jurnal.pdgi.or.id/index.php/jioms/article/view/1375>. Date accessed: 24 aug. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.32793/jioms.v2i3.1375.
Section
Original Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
