Clinical outcome and prognostic factors after salvage surgery for isolated regional squamous cell carcinoma recurrences.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome and predictive factors for salvage surgery of isolated regional recurrences of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. A retrospective study was conducted with 55 patients who were treated with surgery-based treatment. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 61.8% and 60%, respectively. Extracapsular spread (ECS) was an independent factor associated with worse disease-specific survival. The patients who had advanced N classification, ECS, and in-field recurrence had a significantly worse OS rate, whereas those with an initial DFS time of 6 months or more experienced better outcomes. Salvage surgery for isolated regional recurrence resulted in an acceptable oncologic outcome and mortality. Successful surgical salvage is most probable in late recurrence (≥6 months) patients with recurrent N1 stage tumors (no evidence of ECS) outside of the previous treatment field.