Treatment outcome in local recurrence following primary therapy of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Local recurrence after curative therapy is an importantfactor influencing the prognosis of oral carcinoma patients. We have evaluated the time to recurrence and treatment results in local recurrence. This study included 36 patients with local recurrence among 280 patients who underwent curative treatment for primary oral carcinomas between 1975 and 2000.
Intervals between the end of initial treatment and recurrence ranged from 2 to 51 months, with a mean of 12.1 months. The mean interval was 22.6 months in patients surviving after local recurrence and was 6.1 months in patients who died. Twenty-three patientswith local recurrence were considered potentially curable by retreatment, 13 patients being treated only for palliation. Curative treatments consist of surgery alone in 4 patients, and surgery following chemotherapy in 3 patients, and surgery following chemotherapy and radiotherapy in 16 patients. The cause-specific 5-year cumulative survival rate after local recurrence was 58.2% in curative cases and 23.1% in palliative cases.