Involved margin of tongue cancer: the impact of tumor satellites on prognosis.
BACKGROUND
Surgical margin is important to evaluate the adequacy of surgery related to tongue cancer. Despite the distances of margins, tumor components comprising the involved margins should also be investigated. Our aim was to explore the influences of tumor satellites on the clinical outcomes of involved margins.


METHODS
Two hundred twenty-five patients with fresh tongue cancer were investigated. Nineteen patients with pathologically confirmed involved margins were enrolled. Based on the analysis of tumor components of involved margins, they were classified into 2 groups of either tumor-satellite involved margins (SMs) or main-tumor involved margins (MMs).


RESULTS
The results showed that the clinical stages distribution was different: advanced stages in the MM group, and earlier in SM (p = .028). SM group had a higher incidence of neck recurrence (p = .040). Nonetheless, no difference in the disease-specific survival was noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Tumor-satellite involved margins should be regarded as a worse prognosticator in tongue cancer.
Yang
Tsung-Lin
TL
Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ko
Jenq-Yuh
JY
Chang
Yih-Leong
YL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005927:Glossectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*