Surgical Management of Oral Cancer

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Treatment is directed at the elimination of the primary tumor and neck metastasis with minimal morbidity to the patients. Surgery is the most well established mode of initial definitive treatment for a majority of oral cancer. In spite of a significant paradigm shift in the treatment of many head and neck cancer toward using primary chemoradiation, this treatment is not frequently applied to the oral cavity. Small oral cancers are usually managed by surgery alone. Advanced oral cancers are usually treated with primary surgery followed by radiation. Primary site, location, size, proximity to bone, and depth of invasion are factors which influence a particular surgical approach.