Flap reconstruction prolongs treatment time in patients with oral cavity, larynx cancers

In patients with carcinoma of the oral cavity and larynx treated with surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy, use of flap reconstructions led to a much longer overall treatment time, according to results of a study.

A group of researchers carried out this study to assess overall treatment time based on the reconstruction procedure in a total of 420 patients with oral cavity and larynx cancers who received treatment with surgery and radiotherapy between 1991 and 2020.

With overall treatment time of more than 85 days, patients who underwent flap reconstruction, as opposed to those who did not, showed a nearly 20-percent difference.

This difference remained significant for all comparisons (rotation or free flap vs primary closure: 71 percent vs 49 percent; p<0.0001; free flap without bone vs primary closure: 66 percent vs 49 percent; p=0.0358; and free flap with bone vs primary closure: 82 percent vs 49 percent; p<0.0001)

“The use of flap reconstructions results in substantial increases in OTT,” the researchers said. In addition, these findings indicated “a need to re-evaluate current policies regarding the choice of reconstruction and starting RT sooner after surgery.”

Cancer cure has been shown to have an inverse association with overall treatment time in patients treated with surgical resection and radiotherapy, according to the researchers.