2001 Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 613-618
We reinvestigated the conventional surgical resection for advanced tongue carcinoma, and studied on the suitable surgical method based on the effectiveness of our preoperative therapy and the possibility of organ/function preservation. Forty-three patients with advanced but potentially resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue were included in this study. All of the patients were treated with preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by conventional surgical resection.
Concerning the relationship between histological effects and the regression rate to preoperative therapy, a regression rate of 85% and above was needed to obtain a histological effect of Grade II b and above, according to the grading system of Shimosato. In the investigation of residual tumors, both the horizontal and vertical residual rates were low, and cancer cells tended to be limited to the superficial layer of the central area of the primary tumor, in patients who showed a regression rate of 85% and above.
These findings suggest that in such patients, less invasive surgery should be considered to be applicable even in advanced cases, and this policy will produce oral organ/function preservation after surgery.
