[Reasons for recurrence and prognostic analysis of early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue].
OBJECTIVE
The therapeutic outcome of early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT) is generally satisfactory. Recurrence is a major factor affecting the treatment efficacy of SCCOT. This study was to investigate the reasons for recurrence and prognostic factors of SCCOT, thus to decrease the recurrence rate and improve the therapeutic effect.


METHODS
In total 227 patients with SCCOT treated in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from January 1992 to December 2003 were retrospectively reviewed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the survival rate, the log-rank test was used to compare survival distributions, and the Chi-square test was adopted to compare different factors affecting recurrence. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard model.


RESULTS
The recurrence rate was significantly lower in patients with well differentiated SCCOT (19.3%) than in those with moderately-poorly differentiated SCCOT (39.2%) (P=0.004), and was significantly lower in patients receiving combined therapy (15%) than in those receiving surgery alone (28%) (P=0.014). The overall 3-year and 5-year survival rates in recurrent and non-recurrent groups were 40.7% vs. 87.3% and 25.9% vs. 80.3%, respectively(P=0.000). The overall 3-year and 5-year survival rates were also significantly different in patients > or =45 years and < 45 years (P=0.021), and in those with or without neck dissection (P=0.023).


CONCLUSIONS
The pathological classification and whether receiving combination therapy are the factors affecting recurrence of SCCOT. Age, neck dissection and recurrence are prognostic factors of SCCOT. Age and recurrence are independent factors of SCCOT.
Wang
Yan-Hong
YH
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Chen
Yan-Feng
YF
Guo
Zhu-Ming
ZM
Zhang
Quan
Q
Liu
Tian-Ren
TR
Chen
Fu-Jin
FJ
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005927:Glossectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult