Squamous carcinoma of the nasal vestibule

Twenty-two patients with squamous carcinoma of the nasal vestibule are reported. If a sufficiently large volume of tissue is irradiated, radiotherapy is to be preferred to surgery as the primary form of treatment on cosmetic grounds. Local recurrence can be treated successfully by surgery and the ultimate prognosis remains good. The prognosis is very unfavourable if regional lymph node metastases appear. We propose that all patients should undergo an ipsilateral suprahyoid neck dissection to identify occult nodes. If these are found radical radiotherapy should be given.