Role of Adjuvant Radiotherapy in Early Stage Tongue Cancer: Need for Establishing Stringent Guidelines

The primary objective of this study was to determine, using population-based data, whether the addition of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) provides an overall survival benefit in patients with early primary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of tongue. The study included the data of tongue cancer patients treated between January 2016 and July 2019 retrieved from our hospital database. Tumours limited to pathologic T1 and T2 category managed with primary surgery with or without postoperative external beam RT were included. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were the main outcomes of interest. A total of 211 cases of oral cancer were evaluated and all the patients had clear surgical and pathological margins. Postoperative adjuvant therapy (PORT) was received by 16 patients. Comparison of DFS and OS at 2-year follow-up depicted a similar outcome (p = 0.582 and p = 0.312 respectively). Findings from our study suggest that in the absence of any absolute advantage on quantifiable survival and disease control, it is necessary to define stringent criteria when advocating PORT in early tongue cancer.