Carcinoma of the tongue and tonsil (oropharynx)

In this article, the multidisciplinary approach to the management of carcinomas of the tongue and oropharynx has been emphasized. The decision for the primary mode of therapy will depend on the multiple factors discussed herein. However, a surgeon skilled in the management of head and neck tumors, including major reconstructive techniques, should lead the team. Most patients with head and neck carcinoma present with lesions that are relatively far advanced, and the combination of surgical excision and radiation therapy has proved to be the best method of controlling this disease. Even when cure is unlikely, the palliation of the patient by proper resection and immediate reconstruction, followed by adequate radiation therapy, can provide significant palliation and, it is hoped, avoid the horribly painful and agonizing death that ensues from massive local recurrence in the head and neck. Modern reconstructive techniques allow for reasonable aesthetic and functional restoration, which can be performed in a single stage at the time of the ablation of the tumor. Healing with these well-vascularized flaps is predictable and allows the patient to get to the radiation therapist within the early postoperative period. A full tumoricidal dose of radiation therapy can then be instituted with the expectation that the reconstruction with the vascularized tissue will withstand the irradiation well. This avoids the increased complication rates associated with operating in irradiated fields and gives the radiation therapist a better chance for effective therapy with a markedly reduced tumor load. These tumors remain one of the most obstinate problems that surgeons face today. However, an aggressive approach to control local disease remains the best therapy and offers the patient the only chance for cure. These are difficult patients to manage from many aspects. I believe that the statement made by Dr. Charles Mayo in 1905 remains timely: "A large part of abdominal work is recreational as compared with the work of what might be called the heavy surgery of the neck."