Carcinoma of the cheek mucosa. A retrospective analysis.

A 16 year experience with 121 patients treated for squamous cell carcinoma arising in the cheek mucosa is described. Treatment was almost exclusively surgical, and 5 year determinate cure rates ranged from 77 and 65 percent in stage I and II lesions to 27 and 18 percent in those with stage III and IV lesions, respectively. Twenty-four percent of previously treated patients remained alive and well at 5 years. The 42 percent overall salvage rate was low, reflecting the high proportion of patients who developed cervical metastasis during the course of the disease. In an attempt to improve local control, we now advocate irradiation of the primary tumor and neck after aggressive resection with radical neck dissection in any patient who has clinical evidence of nodal involvement or other unfavorable findings.