Combined preoperative radiotherapy and surgery in the treatment of carcinoma of the anterior two‐thirds of the tongue

Sixty-three patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue were treated with preoperative external radiotherapy (mean target dose 42.60 Gray or 4260 rad) and surgery. The expected 5-year survival, expressed as life table estimate of percent of survivors, was 77% for patients with Stage I tumors, 69% with Stage II, and 13% for patients with tumors in Stages III-IV (p less than 0.001). Fourteen patients experienced local recurrences, 7 had homolateral neck metastases, 4 had contralateral neck metastases and 3 had distant metastases. In 15 cases no cancer could be detected at review of the surgical specimens, but 2 of these died of their cancers. In 43 cases cancer was present in the specimens, and 26 of these died of their cancer (p less than 0.01).