Management of and risk factors for regional recurrence in upper lip squamous cell carcinoma

Our goal was to evaluate the risk factors for regional recurrence in upper lip squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). A total of 109 patients with upper lip SCC were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical and pathologic information was collected and analyzed. Fifteen (13.8%) patients had a regional metastasis, 2 patients had parotid node metastasis, and no local or distant metastasis was noted. There was neck level I node metastasis in 15 (100%) patients. In multivariate analysis, invasion depth and degree of differentiation were significantly associated with regional metastasis. The 5- and 10-year disease-specific survival rate was 95.4% and 80.1%, respectively. Invasion depth and degree of differentiation have reliable value for predicting regional metastasis.