Local and distant metastases in patients with surgically treated squamous cell carcinoma of the lip

There were 18 patients (16%) with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the lip in a total material of 114 operatively treated patients. There were initially palpable cervical nodes in 14% of the patients, but only 6 (5%) had histologically proved metastases. Two patients (1.8%) had distant metastases. The primary tumour in the metastatic group was classified as T1 in 3 (17%), T2 in 4 (22%) and T3 in 11 (61%) cases. During 5-year-follow-up of 73 of the patients, local recurrences were found in 10 cases (13.5%), 5 of whom developed subsequent metastases. Of the remaining 63 patients without local recurrences only 3 (5%) had metastases. Totally 8 of 73 patients, who had no metastases initially, developed them during 5-year-follow-up. Metastases appeared within three years after initial treatment. In the metastatic group only 15.5% of the patients are alive after 5 years, and totally 13.5% of the patients died of the carcinoma of the hip within in 5 years.