Patterns of failure in the treatment of retromolar trigone carcinoma

ABSTRACT

This study included 18 patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the retromolar trigone who received definitive or postoperative radiotherapy. The age of patients ranged from 47 to 78 years and the most frequent presentation was a sore throat in six patients with a positive social history of smoking in 42% of cases. Treatment was radical radiotherapy in eight patients and a combination of radical surgery and radiation in ten patients. All patients received radiotherapy were treated using 4 MeV photons to a total dose of 55-65 Gy/23-25 fr/6-8 weeks to the primary site with 45-50 Gy/23- 25 fr/5 weeks to the neck nodes and some patients were boosted with an additional ipsilateral field. Analysis of the pattern of failure slowed that eight patients relapsed locally, two patients relapsed distantly and two patients relapsed with combined local and distant failure. The proportion of patients remaining free of recurrence was 67% for T2 tumors, 43% for T3 tumors and 50% for T4 tumors. Complications were low occurring in 16% of all patients receiving radiotherapy