Carcinoma of the soft palate

During a 10 year period 30 patients with carcinoma of the soft palate were treated. There were 22 cases in stages I and II. A curative dose of irradiation was used in 25 cases, four of whom required surgical salvage. Another five cases were treated by a combined modality of surgery and postoperative radiation. Seven cases had nodal metastases. A mean two-year disease-free survival of 83 per cent was obtained. The probability of five-year disease free survival was 65 per cent.