Changes in the management and survival rates of patients with oral cancer: a 30-year single-institution study

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in the management and 5-year survival rates of patients with oral cancer in our department over a 30-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated the patient distributions, treatment methods, method of neck dissection according to cancer stage, and 5-year survival rates for 700 oral cancer patients over the periods of 1982-1996 (256 patients), 1999-2006 (248 patients), and 2007-2011 (196 patients). RESULTS: Stage IV patients were the largest group in all of the time periods evaluated. Although surgery and radiotherapy were the most common methods in all periods (over 50%), the prevalence of patients who underwent concomitant chemoradiotherapy increased from 7.0% to 16.2%. The use of radical neck dissection decreased from 43.0% to 5.3%, while conservative surgical methods increased from 24.1% to 76.3%. Lastly, the overall 5-year survival rate increased from 31.6% to 63.5% during the study period. CONCLUSION: Although the 5-year survival rate reached the same level as that of other developed countries during the course of our study, most patients continue to come to the hospital with stage IV disease. In order to increase the 5-year survival rate of oral carcinoma, it may be necessary to improve public education and social efforts relevant to early diagnosis.

Evaluation of Bone Resorption Rate after Nonvascularized Iliac Bone Graft for Mandibular Discontinuity Defect

Preoperative prediction of the location of parotid gland tumors using radiographic anatomical landmarks

INTRODUCTION: The location of parotid gland tumors in the superficial or deep lobes can affect the time and difficulty of operations. Therefore, accurate preoperative evaluation of the tumor location is important for surgical outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 16 patients with parotid gland tumors and who underwent a parotidectomy between April 2003 and March 2011 were retrospectively reviewed in terms of demographic background, tumor location, surgical treatment, and treatment outcomes. Tumor location was estimated by four landmarks on contrast enhanced computerized tomography scans, which were Conn's arc, the facial nerve (FN) line, the Utrecht line, and the retromandibular vein. Tumor location was confirmed by relative position depending on the facial nerve during surgery. It was assumed positive since the tumor lies in the superficial lobe of the parotid gland, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and efficiency of each landmark were evaluated. RESULTS: Our result revealed that the facial nerve line had a sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, negative predictive value of 71.4%, and efficiency of 87.5%. Some would be more efficient preoperative evaluation methods of the relationship of parotid gland tumors to the facial nerve than others. CONCLUSION: In our study, the FN line was found to be the most reliable analysis method.

Investigating the effect of age on skeletal stability after sagittal split ramus osteotomy for mandibular setback

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the age factor would be related with stability of mandibular setback surgery for patients with mandibular prognathism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the relapse patterns of 47 patients divided into three age groups (termed younger, adult, and older). The younger group consisted of patients between 15 and 17 years old; the adult group was made up of patients between 21 and 23 years old, and the older group was made up of patients more than 40 years old. The positional change of B point was evaluated at preoperative, postoperative, and follow-up states. RESULTS: The horizontal relapse ratio was 21.7% in the younger group, 15.3% in the adult group, and 15.7% in the older group. Although relatively higher degrees of relapse were found in the younger group, this increase was not statistically significant. Spearman's correlation analysis was performed to explore other factors contributing to relapse. We subsequently found that the amount of relapse was related to horizontal setback. CONCLUSION: Although the degree of relapse in younger patients is not significant;y higher compared to other groups. The major contributing factor to relapse after sagittal split ramus osteotomy is amount of setback rather than age when the surgery was performed to patients over than 15 years of age.