Surgical treatment of early tongue squamous cell carcinoma and patient survival

Surgical options for treating early tongue squamous cell carcinoma and patient survival were explored. Clinical records of 128 patients with early tongue squamous cell carcinoma who were treated in Henan Province Hospital of TCM from June, 2010 to June, 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. According to adopted treatment plan, the patients were divided into 3 groups: 42 patients in surgical therapy alone group, 46 patients in preoperative radiotherapy group, and 40 patients in postoperative radiotherapy group. Statistical analysis was performed on the general data of patients and clinical records, as well as the 5-year survival rate and recurrence rate. The overall 5-year survival rate for all patients was 86.7% (111/128), and the 5-year disease-specific survival rate was 88.8% (111/125). In the individual groups, the 5-year survival rate and the 5-year disease-specific survival rate were 91.3% (84/92) and 91.3% (84/92), respectively, in the surgical therapy alone group 76.9% (10/13) and 83.3% (10/12), respectively, in the preoperative radiotherapy group, and 73.9% (17/23) and 81.0% (17/21), respectively, in the postoperative radiotherapy group. There were no statistically significant differences in 5-year survival rate (χ(2)=5.990, P=0.051) and 5-year disease-specific survival rate (χ(2)=2.223, P=0.329) among the three groups. In total, there were 25 cases of recurrence during follow-up. The recurrence rate was 19.5%; the local recurrence rate was 11.7% (15/128); and the regional recurrence rate was 7.8% (10/128). There were 6 cases of metastasis, and the metastatic rate was 4.7%. There were no statistically significant differences in recurrence rate and metastatic rate among the three groups. Compared with surgical therapy alone, radiotherapy combined with surgical therapy neither improved 5-year survival rate nor reduced recurrence rate. Therefore, surgical therapy alone is suggested to be the preferred option for treating early tongue squamous cell carcinoma.