title: Tolerance of surgery after radical radiotherapy of carcinoma of the oropharynx.
abstract: The complications of salvage surgery after radical irradiation were studied in a group of 52 patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas. These patients were selected for surgery from a group of patients who had failed protocol therapy and who were registered in the Split-Course Study of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group. The operative mortality was 1.9% (1/52). The most frequent serious complication was pharyngocutaneous fistua in 12% (6/52) of patients who underwent operations. The overall incidence of serious complications was 21% (11/52). The actuarial estimated five-year survival for the group who had undergone operation was 27%. We conclude that salvage surgery for residual or recurrent disease in oropharyngeal cancer after radical radiotherapy is feasible with a low surgical mortality and acceptable complication rates.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D005402:Fistula / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009960:Oropharynx; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis