Abstract
Background: We aimed to investigate whether depth of invasion (DOI) should be an independent indication for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in small oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Methods: Retrospective analysis of DOI (<5, 5 to <10, ≥10 mm) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in a multi-institutional international cohort of 1409 patients with oral SCC ≤4 cm in size treated between 1990-2011. Results: In patients without other adverse factors (nodal metastases; close [<5 mm] or involved margins), there was no association between DOI and DSS, with an excellent prognosis irrespective of depth. In the absence of PORT, the 5-year disease-specific mortality was 10% with DOI ≥10 mm, 8% with DOI 5-10 mm, and 6% with DOI <5 mm (P =.169), yielding an absolute risk difference of only 4%. Conclusion: The deterioration in prognosis with increasing DOI largely reflects an association with other adverse features. In the absence of these, depth alone should not be an indication for PORT outside a clinical trial.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1935-1942 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Head and Neck |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 06 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords
- depth of invasion
- head and neck cancer
- locoregional control
- oral squamous cell carcinoma
- radiotherapy
- survival
- tumor thickness