Local excision and radiotherapy for cancer of the oral tongue. A preliminary report.

A group of 18 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the mid one-third of the tongue was treated by local resection and planned postoperative radiotherapy between 1976 and 1980. Tumors 0.5 cm or greater in thickness were included; no patients had cervical adenopathy. Six were categorized as T1, 10 as T2 and two as T3. In eight patients, histologic review showed tumor extension at or near the resection margin, despite a tumor-free margin at frozen section, while in 10 patients the margins were clear. Local tumor control was achieved in 16 patients (89%). Two failures were evident within 3 months after completion of treatment. The relatively short follow-up of such a small series limits the conclusions from this preliminary study, but the excellent results thus far merit further study.