Treatment of Early Stage Lip Cancer (T1 or T2 Tumour, 4 cm or Smaller)
This page covers the clinical approach to early stage lip cancer — specifically T1 or T2 tumours measuring 4 cm or smaller in greatest dimension — where multiple equivalent treatment strategies are available.
Clinical Scenario
The patient presents with early stage lip cancer: a T1 or T2 primary tumour, 4 cm or smaller in greatest dimension. At this stage, the disease is amenable to local treatment, and both surgical and radiation-based approaches yield comparable outcomes. Five-year crude survival rates for T1 to T2 tumours are approximately 75–80 per cent with appropriate treatment.
Treatment Approach (Overview)
Several equivalent treatment modalities exist for this stage, including local surgical approaches, fractionated external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and photodynamic therapy. Early stage cancer can be treated equally well by surgery or radiation therapy — the full structured protocol details which option applies and how.
References
- The five-year crude survival rates for surgical treatment are about 75–80 per cent for T1 to T2 tumours, dropping to 40–50 per cent for T3 and T4 tumours.
- Early stage cancer can be treated equally well by surgery or radiation therapy.
- Small lesions are managed by simple surgical excision and primary closure.
- Equally good results can be achieved with fractionated EBRT or brachytherapy.
- External beam radiotherapy using electrons or orthovoltage photons minimises dose to the oral cavity so that mucositis occurs only on the treated lip.
- Iridium192 can be used in the treatment of lip cancer.
- Foscan® mediated PDT can also be used to treat primary cancer of the lip, where treatment yields complete response rates comparable with those published for surgery or RT.
DOI: 10.1017/S0022215116000499
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