Quality of life after surgical excision followed by radiotherapy for cancer of the tongue and floor of the mouth: evaluation of 78 patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of 78 patients treated for cancer of the tongue and the floor of the mouth, by subjective impressions and by objective assessment through different types of tests. Patients were divided into two groups according to the size of the post-excisional defect: (1) defect less than 5 cm (46); and (2) defect more than 5 cm (32). Patients were divided into three groups according to the type of reconstruction: 28 were partly reconstructed, 31 were reconstructed with local flaps and 19 with pectoralis major myocutaneous flaps. The following aspects were studied: overall well-being, food intake, speech intelligibility, dryness of mouth, willingness to undergo further surgery if necessary, tongue mobility, sensibility disturbances within the reconstructed region and oral competence. Overall results revealed that patients' quality of life was more or less disturbed. Among them, patients reconstructed with myocutaneous flaps and patients with larger post-excisional defects had a poorer quality of life.