T2 oral tongue carcinoma treated with radiotherapy: analysis of local control and complications.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the time factor and the proportion of the total dose delivered with external-beam irradiation versus interstitial implant in 42 patients with previously untreated T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue managed with irradiation alone between 1964 and 1986. All patients had a 2-year minimum follow-up, and 93% were observed for at least 5 years. Seven patients died within 2 years of treatment with the primary site continuously disease-free and were excluded from analysis of local control. All patients were included in the analysis of complications. Patients were staged according to the 1983 AJCC staging system. Treatment was delivered with interstitial implant alone (4 patients), external-beam radiotherapy and implant (34 patients), or external-beam radiotherapy alone (4 patients). The following are the rates of local control with radiotherapy and ultimate local control, including patients successfully salvaged after a local recurrence: 21/35 (60%) and 26/35 (74%). In the group of patients treated with external-beam radiotherapy and an interstitial implant, local control was 12/16 (75%) for an implant plus less than or equal to 3000 cGy external-beam radiotherapy compared with 6/15 (40%) for an implant plus greater than 3000 cGy external-beam radiotherapy. For the entire group of patients, local control was 16/21 (76%) if the treatment time was less than 40 days and 5/14 (36%) if the overall treatment time was greater than 40 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)