Lip cancer: important management issues.

Lip cancer should be diagnosed and treated at an early stage. It most often presents on the lower lip of middle-aged to elderly males. The aetiology is similar to non-melanoma skin cancer, that is, chronic sun exposure. Despite treatment, a proportion of patients will experience delayed relapse and one in 10 will die from lip cancer. Clinicians need to be aware of the natural history of this disease. Two cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the lip treated by radiotherapy are presented and discussed to highlight important aspects in the management of lip cancer.