Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the buccal mucosa

A study was made of seventy-seven patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the buccal mucosa (cheek) treated at the Mayo Clinic from 1945 through 1954. All patients who received any form of treatment were included. A five-year survival rate of 50 per cent of the patients who were followed up was obtained. An attempt was made to determine the most effective method of treatment of these lesions. Because of the difficulty in estimating the extent of the disease from the records, and because of the small number of patients in each category of treatment, no exacting conclusions could be drawn regarding the most effective method of treatment. In contrast to the many reported series in which radiation was the mainstay of treatment, most tumors in this series were removed by thorough electrocoagulation or excision, and cervical metastatic lesions were removed by block dissection of the neck. In this unselected series, a survival rate was obtained which was equally as good as has been obtained with other methods.