Abstract
Objectives:
(1) Analyze the prognostic factors implicated in survival of patients with recurrent oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). (2) Highlight the poor salvage and overall survival rates in this patient population.
Methods:
Between 1997 and 2006, 235 patients with oral cavity SCC were identified, of which 85 experienced recurrences. Overall survival and prognostic factors were analyzed, including epidemiologic, tumor-specific factors, and surgical outcomes.
Results:
Eighty-five of 235 patients experienced recurrence of their primary oral cavity SCC. Only 8 (9.4%) patients have survived, with follow-up ranging from 8 to 14 years. Six of the surviving patients had tongue primaries, while the other 2 had buccal mucosa and hard palate primaries. All 8 surviving patients were staged T1 (1) or T2 (7) and were N0 (6), N1 (1), or N2b (1). Among deceased patients, 9 (11.7%) were staged T3 and 16 (20.1%) T4. Tumor volume (cm3) also varied greatly between surviving (3.97) and deceased (22.14) patients.
Conclusions:
Salvage surgery in oral cavity patients remains a difficult clinical problem and our long-term analysis of these patients reveals that most do not survive. Those who survive have lower initial tumor stage, less nodal disease, and smaller tumor volume than the deceased patient group. This data highlights the poor prognosis of these patients and the dire need of different strategies to improve outcomes.
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