Early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip: predictive factors for recurrence

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tumour thickness on other clinicopathological parameters in early stage lower lip squamous cell carcinoma. Forty-six consecutive patients with lower lip squamous cell carcinoma were included in the study. Demographic, clinical and pathological data were retrospectively collected. The mean follow-up period for all patients was 32.0 ± 18.9 months. Forty-four tumours were staged as T1 and two were T2. Twelve patients underwent neck dissection. Two patients presented with neck metastasis in the follow-up period. Four patients (8.7 per cent) had local recurrence. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between microscopic tumour thickness and local tumour recurrence (r = 0.328, p = 0.045). Surgical margin control is important to prevent local recurrence, especially in thicker tumours. In addition, neck metastasis is rare in early stage lower lip squamous cell carcinoma. A 'wait and see' policy might be preferred in early stage T1 lower lip squamous cell carcinoma cases.