Qi-Gen Fang
Tongue squamous cell carcinoma was the most common malignancy in oral cavity, the management of clinically negative neck nodes (N0) remains controversial. From 2005 to 2012, patients with cT1-2N0 tongue SCC were included in this study, On univariate and multivariate analysis of RFS, tobacco, tumor stage, neck stage and differentiation were significantly associated with recurrences. On univariate analysis of DSS, tobacco and differentiation were associated with recurrence, but on multivariate analysis, tumor differentiation was the only significant factor with disease-caused death. Neck occult metastasis was not common in early tongue cancer, tumor differentiation was the most important prognostic factor.