We analyzed the clinical characteristics of 19 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the upper alveolus and gingiva, who accounted for 7.5% of 254 patients with head and neck carcinoma treated between 1971 and 1996. The patients consisted of 11 males and 8 females with a mean age of 63 years. There was 1 stage I patient (5.2%), 4 stage II patients (21.1%), 3 stage III patients (15.8%), and 11 stage IV patients (57.9%). Initial treatment consisted mainly of a combination of surgery and radiotherapy in 8 cases (42.1%), surgery in 6 cases (31.6%), and radiotherapy in 5 cases (26.3%). The five-year survival rate calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method was 57.9% for the entire group of 19 patients. The outcome was not good in patients treated with radiotherapy and in those who had tumors showing diffuse invasion.
