Results of surgical treatment of tongue cancer

Fourty-four patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue have been treated by surgery. Twenty-two out of 44 patients were treated by a glossectomy alone and the remaining 22 by en bloc dissection with a glossectomy and neck dissection. The 5-year cumulative survival rate of these 44 cases was 86.1%, broken down as follows: stage I (20 cases), 100%; stage II (9 cases), 88.9%; stage III (11 cases), 72.7%; and, stage IV (4 cases), 50%. Four cases had a recurrence in the primary site, and 6 in the cervical region. Five out of 44 cases died (4 from tongue cancer, and one from other causes). Further, 3 out of 5 cases died of a recurrent cancer in the primary focus or in the neck. Thus, it has been concluded that control of the primary focus and neck metastasis is important for the treatment of tongue cancer, and that surgery also is an excellent therapy for tongue cancer.