Surgical treatment of oral verrucous carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of patients with Verrucous carcinoma (VC) of oral cavity treated at the Chung Gung Memory Hospital with respect to the tumor control rates after surgery, the risk of lymph node metastasis and the role of radiation therapy.

METHODS

Thirty-eight patients underwent primary treatment for VC of the oral cavity from January 1996 through February 2002. All of the patients had surgery as their primary treatment. In addition, all patients with sufficient details of the therapy and a minimum 1-year follow-up were selected for evaluation of survival and outcomes.

RESULTS

In this study, 94.7% of patients were male and most of them had been exposed to betel nuts, cigarettes, and/or alcohol. The most common site was the buccal mucosa (57.9%), followed by the tongue (13.2%). T3 lesions were the most common type (34.2%). Only two patients had palpable cervical adenopathy during the initial evaluation. Twenty-five patients had free flap for reconstruction. The tumor control rate was 100%. At the time of analysis, no patient had suffered from recurrence in primary site or neck area.

CONCLUSION

Surgical excision alone was effective for controlling VC, but elective neck dissection was not necessary even in patients in the advanced stages.