Clinical outcome and prognostic factors after salvage surgery for isolated regional squamous cell carcinoma recurrences.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome and predictive factors for salvage surgery of isolated regional recurrences of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with 55 patients who were treated with surgery-based treatment.

Results: The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 61.8% and 60%, respectively. Extracapsular spread (ECS) was an independent factor associated with worse disease-specific survival. The patients who had advanced N classification, ECS, and in-field recurrence had a significantly worse OS rate, whereas those with an initial DFS time of 6 months or more experienced better outcomes.

Conclusion: Salvage surgery for isolated regional recurrence resulted in an acceptable oncologic outcome and mortality. Successful surgical salvage is most probable in late recurrence (≥6 months) patients with recurrent N1 stage tumors (no evidence of ECS) outside of the previous treatment field.