Tumor thickness in early tongue cancer.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To review the relationship between tumor thickness and the subsequent development of cervical nodal metastases in 26 patients with stage I and II carcinomas of the oral tongue. METHODS: The histologic features of 26 consecutive patients treated for squamous carcinoma of the oral tongue were reviewed "blindly" by a pathologist, and the variables were correlated with clinical outcome. RESULTS: No association between tumor thickness and nodal metastases was found. Perineural infiltration was the only factor to approach statistical significance. There was also no statistically significant correlation between tumor thickness and patient survival. CONCLUSIONS: The histologic factors considered herein probably should be controlled for when comparing results of treatment of cancer of the oral tongue.