Study title

Immediate Microsurgical Reconstruction After Tumor Ablation

Predicts Survival Among Patients with Head and Neck Carcinoma

Journal

Annals of Surgical Oncology

Study year

2010

Question

Does immediate microvascular free flap reconstruction influence survival among patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)?

Study design

Retrospective cohort

Study groups

Immediate free microsurgical flap reconstruction (n=274) vs Local defect closure or healing by secondary intention (n=499)

Population

Patients with OSCC based on AJCC TNM classification (n=773)

Inclusion criteria

Histologically proven primary OSCC

Exclusion criteria

Second primary tumour

Metastases

Primary tumour not in the oral cavity

Previous head and neck cancer

Positive or close (>1mm - <5mm) resection margins

Macroscopic residual tumour after treatment

Follow-up

>12.5 years

Primary endpoint(s)

Overall survival:

- Immediate flap associated with improved survival (hazard ratio = 0.66, p<0.001)

- Controlling for tumour extent, only T3-T4 tumours were significantly associated with improved survival (HR = 0.46, p<0.001)

Secondary endpoint(s)

Recurrence rate:

- No difference between immediate flap and local closure (22.6% vs 22.2%)

Weblink

[Link](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1245/s10434-009-0758-0)

Brief summary

Immediate microvascular free flap reconstruction improves overall survival in patients with OSCC vs local defect closure, especially in T3-T4 tumour patients

Authors

Mücke et al

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany