Comparison of quality-of-life in tongue cancer patients undergoing tongue reconstruction with lateral upper arm free flap and radial forearm free flap.

Surgery entails radical resection, neck dissection and tongue reconstruction has been commonly used in treatment of T2 and T3 tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Although lateral upper arm free flap (LUFF) and radial forearm free flap (RFFF) are similar in texture and thickness, significant differences can be noticed in the donor-site function and surgical demands. In the treatment of T2 and T3 tongue cancer, the choice of either LUFF or RFFF is still not defined.We aim to investigatethe long-term QOL of patients with moderate tongue defect and reconstruction with LUFF or RFFF, based on which to provide clinical suggestion for tongue reconstructions.Sixty-five patients (T2 or T3 stage, 42 underwent tongue reconstruction with RFFF and 23 with LUFF) treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University from January 2005 to June 2009 were included. The QOL of each patient was determined using the questionnaire designed based on the University of Washington Quality-of-Life (UW-QOL, version 4). The questionnaire was accomplished by a qualified medical staff blinded to the study after telephone communication with each patient. Statistical analysis showed that no significant difference was noticed in the long-term QOL of patients with tongue cancer after tongue reconstruction using LUFF or RFFF, respectively, indicating that similar QOLs were obtained in the long-term follow-up of patients with tongue cancer (T2 or T3 stages) using LUFF and RFFF for reconstruction.