Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of salvage surgery after concurrent chemoradiotherapy for patients with advanced oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Seventeen patients who received a total dose of more than 60 Gy radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy were enrolled in this study. Fourteen out of the 17 patients were given selective intra-arterial chemotherapy and 3 had systemic chemotherapy. Salvage operation by primary tumor resection and neck resection with reconstruction was performed in 8 patients and without reconstruction in 1 patient. Four patients had resection of the primary tumor alone and the remaining 4 had merely neck dissection. The overall postoperative complication rate was 29% but increased to 50% in cases with reconstruction. The five-year survival rate was 56.9%. The outcome of salvage surgery was acceptable but in cases where reconstruction was conducted, repeated operations were required for closure of the oro-cutaneous fistula.
