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In a patient with history of early stage oral cavity cancer and a new ipsilateral neck failure, would you treat the initial site of disease?

In a patient with recurrent SCC in the neck s/p ***remote*** partial glossectomy (R0, 6 months ago), who is now s/p neck dissection for gross disease in the neck, do you treat the surgerized neck only, or surgerized neck AND the initial site of disease, i.e., remaining oral tongue, even though there's no recurrent disease in the tongue. What about contralateral neck?
1 Answer
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Radiation Oncology · University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Answered on

At MDA we have for many years followed a guideline for the unirradiated patient with a metachronous neck recurrence from the oral cavity. I say guideline as we have not had ridgid adherence.

Our guideline has been 1 year between the initial disease and the recurrence. If less than a year, we treat a...

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