Assessment of Margins in Resection Specimens for Head and Neck Malignancies

Objective: To determine the relative frequency of clear, close and involved margins in resection specimens for head and neck malignancies. Study Design: An observational study. Place and Duration of Study: The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi and the Department of Histopathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, from January 2008 to December 2010. Methodology: Tumour registers and computer data bases in the department of Histopathology of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, were analyzed for the cases of malignancies involving head and neck region that were sent for histopathological analysis after resection in the last three years. Histopathology reports were obtained. The data regarding age, gender, site, type of malignancy and margin status (clear, close or involved) was recorded on specially designed proformas for the study and later on analyzed by using SPSS version 17.0. Results were expressed. Results: A total of 319 cases were registered in the study duration. The age of the patients ranged from 22 - 90 years (mean 59.5 +/- 14.1 years). Male to female ratio was 1.53:1. One hundred and thirty six (42.6%) were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 163 were basal cell carcinomas (BCC, 51.0%); the rest included 18 salivary gland malignancies (5.7%) and one carcino-sarcoma (0.31%) and chondrosarcoma each. All margins were found clear in 137 patients (42.9%); involved in 168 cases (52.7%) and close in 14 cases (4.4%). Conclusion: Margin clearance could not be achieved in more than 50% cases, this can lead to poor prognosis. Hence, methods should be adopted to improve the margin clearance in various head and neck malignancies.