Abstract
A retrospective study was conducted of loco-regional recurrence in 324 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity treated with surgery. Local recurrence occurred in 26 (8.0%) patients: 4.3% for T1-2 patients, and 17% for T3-4. Among them, only 12 patients were salvaged, and especially those with advanced stage showed extremely poor prognosis. The most frequent recurrent site was the masticatory space.
Neck recurrence was seen in 12 of 199 patients (6.0%) who underwent neck dissection. Three patients had their necks cured, although two of them developed distant metastasis. The prognosis of those with neck recurrence was extremely poor. The most frequent recurrent site was the parahyoid bone region.
Prophylaxis for loco-regional recurrence was discussed including internal masticatory space dissection, surgical approach to the lingual lymph nodes, and postoperative chemoradiotherapy with high dose cisplatin.
