Results of treatment for carcinoma of the tongue in our department

Twenty-eight patients with carcinoma of the tongue treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Asahikawa Medical College from 1978 to 1986 were reviewed.The patients ranged in age from 33 to 80 years, and 71. 4 percent were male (20/28). The carcinoma in 26 cases originated in the lateral borders of the tongue. The histopathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma in all cases. In stage grouping of the UICC (1978): 11 cases belonged to stageI, 8 to II, 5 to III, 4 to IV.In early cases of stage I and II, 8 cases were treated mainly by interstitial radiotherapy and 11 cases mainly by surgery. In advanced cases of stage 111 and IV, most of them received surgical treatment combined with pre-operative irradiation. The 5-year survival rate of stage I, II, III, IVwere78.9%, 85.8%, 60%and50%, respectively.In cases of stage 1 and 1I, the cure rate treated by surgery was clearly superior to that by radiation therapy.Cases with metastasis to cervical lymph nodes showed. markedly lower survival rate than those without cervical metastasis. But no case with metastasis to cervical lymph nodes treated by neck dissection died from cervical metastasis. Recurrences of primary lesions or cervical metastasis mostly occurred within 1 year after the treatment.This indicates that we must regularly followup the subsequent history of the patients within 1 year after the treatment.