55 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower gum treated in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Kyoto University Hospital during the past 20 years were followed up and retrospectively studied.
The patients consisted of 37 males and 18 females, and ages at first visit ranged from 41 to 81 years old. According to the TNM-Classification of the UICC (1978), T1: 2 cases, T2: 10 cases, T3: 6 cases and T4: 37 cases. 9 cases were NO and all others had clinically lymph node metastasis at the first diagnosis.
The cumulative five years survival rate was 46.9% in all cases, 15 cases treated by combined therapy of surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy were calculated as 67.1%, on the other hand, non-surgical group of 15 cases were calculated as 0%.