Frequent occurrences of an enlarged submandibular gland following interstitial irradiation therapy in patients with cancer of the tongue
Moriguchi, S.; Takeda, M.; Shibuya, H.; Okuyama, T.; Horiuchi, J.
Gan no Rinsho. Japan Journal of Cancer Clinics 34(15): 2052-2056
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-4949 PMID: 3230636 Document Number: 310821
A submandibular gland enlargement produces complications in the diagnosis of a nodal metastasis during the follow-up period in patients who have been given interstitial irradiation therapy for their oral cancers. Thus, a retrospective study has been made of the records of such affected patients, to accumulate knowledge regarding the frequency, the time of appearance, and the symptoms leading to the gland enlargement. Among 155 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, 73 cases were selected for this study by the following criteria: (1) the patients were free of metastatic adenopathy, (2) they had been interstitially irradiated, and, (3) they were followed-up without surgical treatment for more than 6 months after the radiotherapy. Gland enlargement was found to have developed in 70% of the studied patients, that is, in 49 of the 73 cases within 9 months after radiotherapy.