Carcinoma of the oral tongue. A retrospective study of 72 patients.
In this retrospective study, the results of 72 patients with a carcinoma of the oral tongue are presented, obtained with radiation therapy, surgery or both. The actuarial survival at 3 and 5 years is 27 and 20% respectively (plateau after 4 years). The volume of the primary tumor is a major prognostic factor. Clinically detectable involvement of cervical does not change the actuarial survival significantly, which suggests that prognosis and treatment are mainly determined by the primary tumor. Patients treated with curietherapy have a better absolute 3-year survival (38.5%) and local control (93%) than patients treated with external radiation therapy (16.5% absolute 3-year survival and 52% local control) or combined external and interstitial radiation therapy (21.5% absolute 3-year survival and 43% local control). These differences in results are, however, greatly influenced by patient selection. Nodal disease in the neck can be treated effectively with radiation therapy. Elective cervical irradiation in N0 patients does not seem to reduce nodal recurrence in our series.