title: [Prognostic factors of early tongue squamous cell carcinoma and neck treatment].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the prognostic factors and the neck treatment strategy of early tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Total of 152 cases of early tongue SCC underwent surgery between January 1994 December 2003 were reviewed. The patients, according to their neck managements, were divided into two groups, or wait-whach group (n = 32) and neck dissection group (n = 120), and the neck dissection group was subdivided into supraomohyoid neck dissection (SND) group and comprehensive neck dissection(CND) group (including radical neck dissection and modified radical neck dissection).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients were followed up over 5 years or until death and the 5-year follow-up rate was 94.7%. The regional recurrence rates of wait-whach group and neck dissection group were 34.4% and 14.2% respectively (χ(2) = 6.865, P < 0.01) and 5-year overall survival rates of the two groups were 68% and 79% respectively (χ(2) = 1.699, P > 0.05). There were no significant difference in the regional recurrence rate or 5-year survival rate between SND group and CND group (P > 0.05). The patients with pathologically node positive had a low 5-year survival rate compared to those with node negative. The patients with regional recurrence had a significant low 5-year survival rate compared to patients without regional recurrence (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Occult lymph node metastasis and regional recurrence were important prognostic factors for early tongue cancer. Supraomohyoid neck dissection can not improve the 5-year survival rate, but significantly reduce the rate of neck recurrence. The results suggest that the selective neck dissection for ipsilateral level I-III should be applied to the patients with early tongue carcinoma which does not cross the midline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck, Cancer Center, San Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Wai-sheng
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhu-ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: An-kui
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000473:pathology; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult