Radical neck dissection for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: early and long-term results of treatment.

An account is given of the use of radical neck dissection in a consecutive series of 147 patients treated during the years 1967-76 in the Head and Neck Unit of the Royal Marsden Hospital. The majority had received previous treatment principally by irradiation to full dosage, some by previous surgery, and a minority by induction cytotoxic chemotherapy. The 5-year determinate survival results for surgical salvage are 28.03%, and 20.5% at 10 years. Prevention of recurrent cancer in the neck was achieved in 70% of all those who later succumbed to their disease.