[Various aspects of the surgical therapy of cancer of the lower lip].

A safety distance of 1 cm from the excision margin as well as, frequently, removal of the regional cervical lymph nodes are usually recommended to ensure radical excision of carcinomas of the lower lip. Investigations on 32 such carcinomas revealed that a safety distance of 3-5 mm is sufficient, if the edge of the excised tissue is histologically controlled. 109 carcinomas of the lower lip were re-examined in order to settle the question of prophylactic dissection of the lymph nodes. The low metastasis rate of 1.8% suggests that prophylactic dissection of the lymph nodes is not necessary in these patients. However, 95% of all tumors classified as T1 according to the current T-classification by the IUAC for carcinomas of the lower lip occurred in this group of patients.