Oral and maxillofacial malignancies in children and adolescents: a 17-year single-center retrospective study

Abstract

Abstract Objective The primary purpose of this study was to delineate the clinical and pathological characteristics of oral and maxillofacial malignancies in children and adolescents. Methods This retrospective study included patients who were hospitalized and treated between January 2009 and December 2025. Sex, age at presentation, tumor site, histopathological diagnosis, and treatment data were collected. Descriptive statistics and cluster analyses of clinical and pathological characteristics were conducted using R software. Results Totally, 52 patients were included in this study; 31 were male, and 21 were female. The median age at presentation was 12.9 years (range 1.8 to 17.7 years). The most common site was the salivary glands (n=27), and the most common pathological type was mucoepidermoid carcinoma (n=16). Among the 52 patients recruited, 47 underwent surgical treatment. The most common treatment was surgery alone (n=36), and the rates of tumor resection alone, neck lymph node dissection, and bone resection/reconstruction differed significantly by pathological type (p<0.001, p=0.018, and p=0.004, respectively). Exploratory cluster analysis suggested potential associations between age at presentation and pathological type, though these findings require independent validation. Conclusion For oral and maxillofacial malignancies in children and adolescents, individualized treatment based on pathological type, delivered via a multidisciplinary team (MDT) framework, is essential to achieve tumor eradication while preserving normal growth and developmental capacity.