Squamous cell carcinoma of the lip commissure. A 10-year retrospective study (1995-2004

The lips which constitute special anatomic structures, exposed in various irritant and traumatic factors, have increased danger to develop pathological lesions. A retrospective study of patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the lip commissure treated in the department of OMFS of the Cancer Hospital during the period 1995-2004 is presented.Thirteen such cases were studied and statistically analyzed,12 men and 1 woman. 8 farmers, a profession with intense exposure to the solar radiation. 10 patients presented with neck metastases, 3 at the time of initial examination, and 7 at a later point. 9 from the 10 patients were submitted to neck dissection, while 1 was not treated surgically due to lung metastases. The follow-up of the patients had an average of 49.23 months. Today six patients (46.17%) are disease free, three(23.07%) died from the disease and four (30.76%) from other reasons. Patients with lip carcinomas of the commissure usually are found to be at advanced stages, which lead to wide excisions and complex reconstruction. In these patients a selective neck dissection should be performed for a N0 neck and a modified radical neck dissection for a N+ neck.