Stage I Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer
Small Lesions of the Lip
Small Anterior Tongue Lesions
Small Lesions of the Buccal Mucosa
Small Lesions of the Floor of the Mouth
Small Lesions of the Lower Gingiva
Small Tumors of the Retromolar Trigone
Small Lesions of the Upper Gingiva and Hard Palate
Current Clinical Trials
Surgery and/or radiation therapy may be used, depending on the exact site.[1,2]
Small Lesions of the Lip
Standard treatment options:
- Surgery and radiation therapy produce similar cure rates, and the method of
treatment is dictated by the anticipated cosmetic and functional results.
Small Anterior Tongue Lesions
Standard treatment options:
- Wide local excision is often used for small lesions that can be resected
transorally.
- For larger T1 lesions, either surgery or radiation therapy is an acceptable
treatment. Interstitial implantation alone or with external-beam radiation
therapy should be considered. Consideration should be given to irradiating the
neck.
Small Lesions of the Buccal Mucosa
Standard treatment options:
- Lesions smaller than 1 cm in diameter may be managed by surgery alone
if the commissure is not involved. If the commissure is involved, radiation
therapy (including brachytherapy) should be considered.
- Larger T1 lesions may be treated by surgical excision with split-thickness
skin graft or radiation therapy.
Small Lesions of the Floor of the Mouth
Standard treatment options:
- Surgery and radiation therapy produce similar cure rates for T1 lesions.
- In general for lesions smaller than 0.5 cm, excision alone is adequate
if there is a margin of normal mucosa between the lesion and the gingiva.
- For larger lesions, surgery is often used if the lesion is attached to the
periosteum, whereas radiation therapy is often used if the lesion encroaches on
the tongue.
Small Lesions of the Lower Gingiva
Standard treatment options:
- Small lesions may be treated by intraoral resection with or without a rim
resection of bone and repaired with a split-thickness skin graft.
- Radiation therapy may be used for small lesions but results are generally
better after surgery alone.
Small Tumors of the Retromolar Trigone
Standard treatment options:
- For early lesions without detectable bone invasion, limited resection of the
mandible is performed.
- If limited resection is not feasible, radiation therapy may be used
initially with surgery reserved for radiation failure.
Small Lesions of the Upper Gingiva and Hard Palate
Standard treatment options:
- Most small lesions are treated by surgical resection.
- Postoperative radiation therapy may be used if appropriate.
Current Clinical Trials
Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with stage I lip and oral cavity cancer. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.
General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site.
References
-
Harrison LB, Sessions RB, Hong WK, eds.: Head and Neck Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott-Raven, 1999.
-
Guerry TL, Silverman S Jr, Dedo HH: Carbon dioxide laser resection of superficial oral carcinoma: indications, technique, and results. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 95 (6 Pt 1): 547-55, 1986 Nov-Dec.
[PUBMED Abstract]
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