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Updated: Jul 16, 2025
Intraoperative Assessment of Resection Margins in Oral Cavity Cancer: This is the Way
Published on: May 10, 2021
Compartmental tongue surgery for intermediate-advanced squamous cell carcinoma: A multicentric study
Luca Calabrese1, Marta Tagliabue2,3, Alberto Grammatica4
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital of Bolzano (SABES-ASDAA), Teaching Hospital of the Paracelsus Medical Private University (PMU), Bolzano, Italy.
Background:
A multicentric study was conducted on technical reproducibility of compartmental tongue surgery (CTS) in advanced tongue cancers (OTSCC) and comparison to standard wide margin surgery (SWMS).
Methods:
We studied 551 patients with OTSCC treated by CTS and 50 by SWMS. Oncological outcomes were analyzed. A propensity score was performed to compare survival endpoints for the two cohorts.
Results:
In the CTS group, survival and prognosis were significantly associated with positive lymph-nodes, extranodal extension, depth of invasion and involvement of the soft tissue connecting the tongue primary tumor to neck lymph nodes (T-N tract), independently from the center performing the surgery. SWMS versus CTS showed a HR Cause-Specific Survival (CSS) of 3.24 (95% CI: 1.71-6.11; p < 0.001); HR Loco-Regional Recurrence Free Survival (LRRFS) of 2.54 (95% CI: 1.47-4.40; p < 0.001); HR Overall Survival (OS) of 0.11 (95% CI: 0.01-0.77; p = 0.03).
Conclusion:
Performing the CTS could provide better CSS and LRRFS than SWMS regardless of the center performing the surgery, in advanced OTSSC.
