Review of cases with oropharyngeal cancer who underwent operation

Abstract

Thirty-nine patients with oropharyngeal cancer who were operated on at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Ryukyu from 1988 through 1994 are herein reviewed. The overall five-year survival rate was 48%. The five-year survival rate by stage was 78% for stages I and II, while it was 39% for stage III+IV. The major cause of death in our cases was distant metastasis. The therapeutic regimen including chemotherapy against distant metastasis may thus result in an improvment in the survival rate for advanced cases.