Interstitial brachytherapy and neck dissection for Stage III squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue

The purpose of this study is to describe the cause-specific survival rate, local control rate, salvage rate of neck metastasis, and post-treatment eating and speaking conditions for stage III mobile tongue squamous cell carcinomas and its subgroups. Between 1968 and 1999, 117 previously untreated patients with stage III mobile tongue carcinomas underwent mainly brachytherapy with external beam irradiation (EBRT) and neck dissection. A multivariate analysis was performed for the cause-specific survival rate on the various factors. The 1-, 3- and 5-year cause-specific survival rates for all patients were 76%, 54% and 54%, respectively. The 1-, 3- and 5-year primary control rates for all patients were 67.6%, 63.4% and 59.2%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in cause-specific survival rates among stage III subgroups of T3N0, T1-2N1 and T3N1 (p = 0.0002). Our treatment method for patients with stage III mobile tongue squamous cell carcinoma was effective and acceptable.