Advanced squamous cell carcinoma of lower gingivobuccal complex: patterns of spread and failure.
BACKGROUND
Carcinoma of the gingivobuccal complex is commonly associated with the use of smokeless tobacco known as "quid."


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective chart review of 511 patients with advanced cancer of gingivobuccal complex surgically treated during 1994 to 1995. We evaluated patterns of disease failure in these patients and correlated disease-free survival with various prognostic factors.


RESULTS
During a median follow-up of 46 months, 159 locoregional recurrences and 11 distant metastases were detected in 148 patients. Seventy-nine percent of the recurrences appeared within 18 months of surgery, and the median survival for patients with recurrent disease was less than 4 months. Two-year and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 64% and 57%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, disease-free survival showed significant correlation with skin involvement and extracapsular spread.


CONCLUSIONS
Gingivobuccal cancers usually fail locoregionally. Soft tissue infiltration and extracapsular spread of nodal disease influence disease-free survival.
Pathak
Kumar Alok
KA
Head and Neck Service, Department of Surgery, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, 400012 India. kapathak@rediffmail.com
Gupta
Samir
S
Talole
Sanjay
S
Khanna
Vishal
V
Chaturvedi
Pankaj
P
Deshpande
Mandar S
MS
Pai
Prathamesh S
PS
Chaukar
Devendra A
DA
D'Cruz
Anil K
AK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies