Objectives: To evaluate the oncological safety and reliability of the submental island flap (SIF) technique in patients with pathologically node-negative (pN0) and node-positive (pN+) T1-2 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) undergoing surgical tumor resection and concurrent SIF reconstruction.
Patients and methods: Retrospectively, we reviewed patients with pN0 and pN+ T1-2 OSCC who underwent tumor resection and defect reconstruction with SIF from April 2008 to September 2016, focusing on flap viability, patterns and predictors of locoregional failure, salvage treatments, and oncologic prognosis.
Results: Of 160 patients with primary T1-2 OSCC, 33 were pN+ and 127 were pN0. All SIFs beside two were successful (98.75%). During follow-up, 18 patients experienced locoregional tumor relapse, of which 14 were pN0 and four were pN+. The 5-year recurrence-free survival was 88.73% vs. 86.93% for the pN0 and pN+ groups, respectively (p = .847). The pN + patients had poorer prognosis than pN0 patients (5-year overall survival, 66.35% vs. 91.10% respectively [p = .005]; disease-specific survival, 74.87% vs. 91.88% respectively [p = .016]). Multivariate analyses indicated there was no independent predictor for locoregional recurrence, but pN+ was predictive for poor prognosis (p = .03).
Conclusion: SIF is a reliable flap for the reconstruction of OSCC-related small- and medium-sized soft tissue defect. With careful neck dissection and appropriate postoperative adjuvant treatment, the application of SIF did not increase the risk of locoregional tumor recurrence in patients with pN+ T1-2 OSCC compared with those with pN0 T1-2 OSCC.
Keywords: Head and neck cancer; Locoregional flap; Lymph nodes metastasis; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; Outcome study; Reconstruction; Submental island flap; Tumor recurrence.
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