Advanced cancers of the oral cavity continue to be a therapeutic challenge. Despite significant improvements in radiotherapeutic techniques and adjuvant chemotherapy, patients usually die after a short period. Recent progress in reconstructive techniques has made major glossectomy (subtotal, near total, total or extended total) a reasonable palliative and potentially curative approach. It is the purpose of this study to report a series of 106 patients treated from 1985 to 1994 regarding surgical complications and prognosis. All but 1 patient undergoing major glossectomy had squamous cell carcinoma. Primary tumour sites were oral tongue (50 cases), base of the tongue (18 cases), floor of the mouth (28 cases) and other parts of the mouth (10 cases). Tumour stages were: 25 T3, 57 T4, 24 Tx, 34 N0, 20 N1, 32 N2a-N3, 20 Nx. The types of glossectomy were as follows: 24 subtotal, 31 near total and 51 total. A total laryngectomy was performed in only 6 cases. A neck dissection was performed in all but 3 patients: 12 unilateral radical neck dissection (RND), 1 unilateral supra, omohyoid (SOH), 39 simultaneous bilateral RND, 8 simultaneous bilateral SOH, and 43 RND associated to contralateral SOH. A pectoralis major myocutaneous flap was used to repair the operative defect in 96 cases. Complications were seen in 52 cases (49%). The most common complications were wound infection (17 cases), flap necrosis (15 cases) and fistula (15 cases). Significant transient aspiration was seen in 8 patients. At the study closing date, 30 patients were alive without disease, 5 had recurrent disease, 47 died of cancer, 14 died of causes not related to cancer or treatment and 10 were lost to follow-up. The 5-year actuarial survival rates were, respectively, 45%, 18% and 18% for T3, T4 and Tx. Other significant variables were pN stage (P = 0.0672) and year of admission (0.0318). In conclusion a major glossectomy without laryngectomy whenever possible is a safe procedure for a selected group of patients with advanced tongue and floor of the mouth cancer. The actuarial survival rates presented suggests that, in a very select group of patients, major glossectomy is a surgical procedure to be considered.