Detection of very early oral cancers in Puerto Rico.

We evaluated a possible disparity in the detection of very early oral cancers in Puerto Rico relative to the United States. The percentage of in situ (noninvasive) cases among all oral cancer cases was calculated separately for Puerto Rico and the United States using population-based cancer registry data (1992-2001). In situ cancers constituted 1.2% of oral cancer cases in Puerto Rico and 3.4% in the United States (P<.001). These findings suggest a disparity in very early oral cancer detection in Puerto Rico compared with the United States.