Conclusions: The prognosis of patients was related to the initial stage at diagnosis. These results suggest that early diagnosis and treatment are the most important factors to improve the prognosis in oral cancer patients. Adjuvant treatment is also warranted to improve locoregional control of advanced cases.
Objectives: To update the therapeutic outcome of oral cancer.
Methods: In all, 129 cases with oral cancer were treated at Kyoto University Hospital during 2000-2008. Surgery with/without irradiation was performed for 34 cases in stage I, 27 in stage II, 15 in stage III, 42 in stage IVa, and 1 case in stage IVb. Brachytherapy was performed for three cases in stage II. Definitive radiotherapy was performed for three cases in stage III and five cases in stage IV. The follow-up period varied from 12 to 96 months (mean 30 months).
Results: The 5-year cumulative overall and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were 74.5% and 75.3%. DSS was 86.2% in stage I, 91.6% in stage II, 70.7% in stage III, 60.2% in stage IVa, and 0% in stage IVb. DSS shows worse prognosis with advanced nodal status. Locoregional recurrence occurred in 32 of 129 cases, including local recurrence in 8 cases, nodal recurrence in 18, retropharyngeal node metastasis in 1, and local and nodal recurrence in 5 cases. Salvage operation with/without postoperative radiotherapy was performed for 22 cases with locoregional recurrence and 7 of them have survived.