Postoperative radiotherapy for oral cavity cancers: Impact of anatomic subsite on treatment outcome

✍ Scribed by Michael J. Zelefsky; Dr. Louis B. Harrison; Daniel E. Fass; John Armstrong; Ronald H. Spiro; Dr. Jatin P. Shah; Dr. Elliot W. Strong

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 518 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.2880120604

✦ Synopsis

We have retrospectively reviewed the treatment results of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) for advanced oral cavity cancers. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of anatomic subsite on the results of treatment. Between 1975 and 1985, 51 patients with squarnous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (OT = 29 patients) and floor of mouth (FOM = 22 patients) were treated with combined surgery plus RT. All had an indication(s) for RT including advanced primary disease (T3 or T4) (29 patients), close or positive margins (34 patients), and multiple positive neck nodes and/or extracapsular extension (41 patients). With a median follow-up of 6 years, the 5-year actuarial local control rate was 74% and the rate of distant metastasis (DM) was 34%. Despite the similar T stage, margin status and median RT dose, the 5-year actuarial local failure rate was 38% for OT vs. 11% for FOM (p = 0.03). Furthermore, the median survival after recurrence was 9 months for OT and 40 months for FOM (p = 0.02). At 5 years the determinate survival for both sites was (55%), and the likelihood of developing a second ma-From the Departments of Radiation Oncology (Drs.