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Prognostic factors in the surgical treatment of patients with oral carcinoma
Author(s) -
Patel Rajan S.,
Clark Jonathan R.,
Dirven Richard,
Wyten Rebecca,
Gao Kan,
O’Brien Christopher J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2008.04791.x
Subject(s) - medicine , neck dissection , carcinoma , oral cavity , stage (stratigraphy) , retrospective cohort study , surgery , head and neck cancer , pathological , head and neck , cohort , dissection (medical) , cancer , disease , overall survival , dentistry , paleontology , biology
The aim of the study was to analyse the clinical outcome of patients treated surgically for oral carcinoma. A retrospective cohort study was undertaken of 356 patients with oral cavity cancer whose clinicopathological information had been collected prospectively onto a dedicated head and neck database. Disease recurrence and survival were assessed. Neck metastases occurred in 42% of patients. Tumour thickness (both 2 and 5 mm) predicted the presence of nodal metastases. Both pathological T stage ( P < 0.001) and tumour thickness cut‐off of 5 mm ( P = 0.03) were independent predictors of disease‐specific survival. With a median follow up of 41 months, overall survival at 5 years was 59% and disease‐specific survival was 73%. Patients with thick tumours have a high risk of nodal metastases and this supports the liberal use of elective selective neck dissection in patients with clinically negative necks.