Outpatient surgical treatment with CO2 laser in oral cancer: immediate and long-term results.

The immediate and long-term results of excising squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or lip by CO2 laser are analysed in 51 consecutive subjects treated as out-patients. From January 1982 to December 1989, 39 cases of T1 and 12 cases of small (less than 2.5 cm) non-infiltrating recurrences of squamous cell carcinoma were treated at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan. Complete removal was obtained in 44 instances, while in 7 cases cancerous margins were observed on the specimen; 5 of these underwent another wider treatment and 2 refused further therapy. Two of 39 T1 patients developed local relapses and 6/12 recurrent cancers relapsed again. Long term results are complicated by second primary cancers in 19 instances. Out-patient laser therapy is well accepted by patients and its use involves lowered direct and indirect health organisation and social costs.