Sometimes patients with gingival cancer receive surgical procedures such as tooth extraction before treatment, because its clinical similarity to inflammatory disease may be difficult to diagnose. We evaluated the influence of surgical procedures for gingival cancer before our examination.
Between April 2001 and December 2009, 152 cases of gingival cancer were treated in our department. The primary sites were the upper gingiva in 53 cases, and the lower gingiva in 99 cases.
We compared a group of 45 cases who had received surgical procedures before treatment with a group of 117 cases who had not. In the former group, the rates of endophytic tumors and T3/4 cases were significantly higher. Nineteen cases (42.2%) had histologically confirmed cervical lymph node metastasis in the former, while 24 cases (22.4%) had in the latter. In those cases of the lower gingiva who had received surgical procedures, the rate of moth-eaten type of radiographical bone resorption was significantly higher. In the former group, the rates of subtotal maxillectomy and segmental or hemimandibulectomy were significantly higher. The 5-year disease-specific survival rates of the two groups that had or had not received the surgical procedures before treatment were 90.9% and 91.8%, respectively.
Surgical procedures may affect the progression of gingival cancer and the extent of resection for primary tumors.