Background. Medical records of 43 patients with histologically proved diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma who were treated between the years 1975 and 1994 at the department of Otolaryngology Head Neck Surgery, VU Amsterdam were examined.
Methods. Tumors were restaged according to UICC classification 1997. Thirty-eight patients were treated for cure, nine were treated with chemotherapy followed by external beam radiotherapy, and 28 patients were treated with surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy. No patient was lost to follow-up. Data with respect to survival were analyzed.
Results. Eighty-three percent of the tumours were in stage III or stage IV at the time of first presentation. Five-year survival after surgery and postoperative radiotherapy for all patients was 64%. For stages II, III, and IV it was 83%, 49%, and 37%, respectively. Cervical nodal metastases were present in 4.1% at the time of presentation. Thirty-seven percent of the patients survived 2 years after chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.
Conclusions. Squamous cell carcinoma continues to be diagnosed late. Surgery followed by radiotherapy remains the treatment of choice. Mandibulotomy should be considered for better clearance of retromaxillary space in T3 -T4 tumors. The eye should be preserved whenever it is oncologically safe to do so.