Management of lower lip cancer: a retrospective analysis of 118 patients and review of the literature.

In this current study, the clinical data and postoperative follow-up findings of 118 patients with a primary lower lip carcinoma who were treated between 1983 and 1999 in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery are presented. Medical records were reviewed retrospectively and data were collected concerning age, gender, followup period, location of lesion on the lip, cervical metastasis at presentation, preoperative biopsy results, histological grade, initial treatment, reconstruction type, pathological outcome, local recurrence, regional lymph node metastasis, treatment of local recurrence and regional lymph node metastasis, and postoperative treatment. The prognostic value of clinical stages in relation with recurrence and mortality from disease was investigated. The overall rate of recurrence was calculated as being 39.8%, and the determinate survival rate was found to be 72.9% at 5-year follow-up. The data concerning the above-mentioned parameters, together with risk factors that might play a role in the development of lip cancer, are discussed in light of the current literature.