BRACHYTHERAPY FOR NONMETASTATIC SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE BUCCALMUCOSA - AN ANALYSIS OF 45 CASES TREATED WITH PERMANENT IMPLANTS

An analysis has been undertaken of 45 patients with non-metastatic squ amous cell carcinoma of the buccal mucosa treated by permanent Au-198 or Rn-222 implants and in most cases supplementary external irradiatio n. Eight patients had T1, 30 had T2, and 7 T3 disease. Of the lesions 21 were located in the buccal mucosal surface, 14 in the retromolar re gion, and 10 in the bucco-alveolar sulci. Seven of the 45 (16%) died o f the disease and the actuarial 5-year survival rate was 81%. No obvio us differences were noted in survival rate between different stages of the disease or between different subsites of the primary lesion. Ther e were 6 local recurrences occurring from 3 to 33 months after treatme nt, and only one of these was salvageable by further radiation therapy . Neck node metastasis occurred in 11 cases from 2 to 34 months after treatment, and 8 of these cases responded successfully to a radical ne ck dissection or radiotherapy.