• To describe overall pt-reported health-related QOL and cancerrelated symptoms pre-operatively and at 3, 6 and 12 mos following surgical resection and microvascular reconstruction for advanced oral cavity malignancies [ Time Frame: 1 year ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  

This prospective, longitudinal study will evaluate patient-reported quality of life and symptomatology immediately prior to and for up to one year following surgical resection and microvascular reconstruction of advanced oral cavity malignancies.Patients with AJCC stage III or IV malignancies of the oral cavity that require simultaneous surgical resection and microvascular reconstruction of the ablative defect will be eligible to participate.Quality of life and symptom relief will be evaluated by both domain and disease specific questionnaires at four time points: pre-operatively, and 3 months (±1 month), 6 months (±1), and 12 months (±1) post-operatively. These assessment points represent clinically significant events in patients' post-operative course following head and neck surgery. Studies have shown that quality of life decreases significantly at three months after surgery but then reapproaches baseline levels around one year (1). Pre-operative responses will serve as the baseline for comparison. A subset of 20 patients with the 10 highest and 10 lowest quality of life summary scores will be interviewed one year (+/- 3 months) following surgery. The estimated accrual time for this study is 2.2 years . The estimated time for completion of the study is 3 years.