Five-year survival following cryosurgery for oral cancer.

In the years 1964 through 1970, sixty selected patients with oral cancer were treated by freezing in situ with the intent to cure the disease. Early results demonstrated the suitability of the method for high-surgical-risk patients and showed that the technique permitted avoidance of bone-sacrificing operations. Five-year survival statistics show that cryosurgery was most successfully used on small to moderate-sized cancers without cervical lymphadenopathy. The results justify continued use of cryosurgery in carefully selected patients.