T stage and functional outcome in oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients

✍ Scribed by Laura A. Colangelo; Jeri A. Logemann; Barbara Roa Pauloski; Harold J. Pelzer Jr.; Alfred W. Rademaker

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 789 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0347(199605/06)18:3<259::aid-hed8>3.0.co;2-z

✦ Synopsis

Background. The locus and extent of resection and the type of reconstruction used in surgery are important joint determinants of functional outcome in oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients. However, prediction of functional outcome from broader factors such as clinical T stage and approximate locus of resection is important for the preoperative period when the extent of resection and the exact surgical reconstruction to be used may not be decided and preoperative counseling about potential functional outcomes is needed.

Methods. Oropharyngeal swallow efficiency (OPSE) and conversational speech understandability (CU) were measured preoperatively and 3 months posthealing in 68 patients. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether clinical Tstage and planned surgical locus were significantly related to these two functional measures, and discriminant analysis was used on the data obtained at 3 months to determine how well CU and liquid OPSE jointly relate to the T stages.

Results. In patients with a planned oral tongue locus of resection, significant differences were found at 3 months posthealing