Floor of mouth carcinoma: surgery still the dominant mode of treatment.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the care and outcomes for patients presenting with floor of mouth (FOM) cancers.


METHODS
In this Ethics-approved audit, all eligible patients were evaluated with eligibility defined as having a squamous cell carcinoma originating in the FOM. Patient, disease and treatment factors were defined. Primary end points were ultimate local/regional control and cancer-specific survival. These were analysed according to the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test was used to determine statistical significance between survival curves. Multivariate analysis was conducted using Cox regression.


RESULTS
A total of 157 patients were eligible for analysis, 76% males and 24% females, with 38 (24%) having a prior diagnosis of cancer. Surgery was performed in 126 patients (54 with pre/postoperative radiotherapy), radiotherapy only in 30 patients and chemotherapy only in 1 patient. Surgery had the best local control (85%), with 23/30 (77%) patients having radiotherapy failing locally. Ultimate regional control was achieved in 89% of patients, while new primaries occurred in 45 (29%)


CONCLUSIONS
Surgery remains an essential component of the treatment of patients with FOM cancers, with a high likelihood of other cancers developing.
Department of Radiation Oncology, the Prince of Wales Cancer Centre, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Robert I
RI
Smee
Kathryn
K
Broadley
G Patrick
GP
Bridger
Janet
J
Williams
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018307:Neoplasms, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate