Surgical treatment of lip cancer: our experience with 106 cases.

Purpose To report our experience with 106 cases of lip cancer. Patients and Methods We treated 106 patients with stages T1, T2, or T3 lip cancer (76, 22, and 8 cases, respectively). For the 34 T1 lesions up to 1 cm in diameter, we used a V or W excision. In the 42 T1 lesions greater than 1 cm and the 20 T2 lesions, we used the staircase technique. In 2 T2 cases, the carcinoma was located on the labial commissure and was treated with the Fries technique. For the 8 T3 cases, we used the Bernard-Freeman-Fries technique. In 28 patients, a lip shave was performed and tumor was removed. The 7 patients who were N+ at diagnosis underwent modified radical neck dissection and radiotherapy. Results Ten patients died during the follow-up period of 11 to 65 months: 8 of unrelated causes and 2 of new upper aerodigestive tract carcinoma. None of the patients died of their lip cancer. Conclusions Lip cancer is a frequent disease of the oral cavity. Although general agreement has been reached concerning stage T and N+ surgical treatment, unresolved questions remain with regard to N0 treatment. We present our experience and suggestions.