Abstract
To reduce the risk to spread tumor cells by incisional biopsy, excisional biopsy for the early oral squamous cell carcinomas was performed. However, whether or not excisional biopsy should be adopted as a radical modality for oral carcinomas is still controversial.
To evaluate excisional biopsy for stage I and II squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity, 58 patients with oral SCC treated by excisional biopsy were examined clinico-pathologically. Among the 58 patients, 7 patients had recurrence in the primary site and 7 had secondary lymph node metastasis in the neck. A significant correlation was found between local recurrence and margin status. Additionally, absence or presence of dysplasia adjacent to cancerous tissue is important for predicting local recurrence. For superficial tumors which frequently accompany pericancerous epithelial dysplasia, tumors should be excised with a surgical safety margin of 5mm or more. Exophytic tumors of 25mm or less in size can be treated by excisional biopsy alone. On the other hand, as endophytic tumors have high aggressivity and high propensity to metastasize cervical lymph nodes, endophytic tumors of 15mm or less in size should be an indication of excisional biopsy.
