Carcinoma of Tongue, Bucal Mucosa, and Mandible

Abstract

Selection of type of therapy for oral cancer is difficult to establish accurately and involves the use of x-ray therapy, combination of x-ray and surgery, surgery alone, and, if surgery, how extensive the procedure should be and whether the excision should be continuous with a lymphatic extirpation, interrupted lymphatic extirpation, or delayed lymphatic resection and advantage of the socalled commando procedure. Obviously, any attempt at solving these problems must include a survey of long-term results. One must realize that there is no consistency in the surgical attack by different surgeons. A review of the literature reveals a fiveyear cure rate of 22% and 46% following radiation therapy alone. 1-3 Combinations of x-ray to source followed by radical neck dissection for carcinoma of the tongue yielded 25% in 1940 4 and later 34.3% in 1951 5 at Memorial Hospital in New York. All reports indicate better results in buccal mucosa carcinoma